Siren
by Not as sane as you think
Summary: They say that no sailor or pirate has ever resisted to the spell of a siren. It still eludes him how he ended up fightong to be the firts to do just that. {It is just a collection of oneshots my frind and i have been thinking for while}
1. Assassin-pirat meeting

It was early afternoon and the rays of the sun, which stood in the middle of the sky hit her merciless. However, she didn't feel like moving from her spot on the highest mast of the Jackdaw.

The sound of the waves crashing on the near shore was like a lullaby to her ears and the soft breeze that hit her face made the heat far more bearable and the idea of a sweet slumber even more tempting. She was ready to let herself surrender to a dreamless sleep.

Her dear captain, however, had a different idea, because the moment she felt her eyes close heavily a loud crush was heard, which made her jump out from her own skin. It sounded like wood had been crashed into wood and that was probably the case.

No more than fifteen minutes ago the great Blackbeard, also known as her captains boss (not that Edward would ever admit it out loud that there was someone higher than him at the pirates' hierarchy) had set foot to their ship. His intentions were clear: he was there to talk about business.

As the second in command on this ship she had wanted at first to take part at whatever they were doing at the captain's cabin, but then she reconsidered when she remembered all the gruesome stories she had heard about the one and only Blackbeard. About how often he would shoot men from his own crew just for fun or the all the times he had killed his enemies with the most cruel way.

She didn't even want to mention his 16 wives. She was not in the mood to become number 17, so she had stayed on deck and that moment she was even gladder that she did just that.

Those two had been alone for only ten minutes and were already on each other's necks, considering that the sound she had just heard was probably Edward's desk hitting the hard wooden wall of the ship.

At first she tried to ignore all the sounds that were getting louder and louder, but she was a woman not know about her patience and soon she started getting annoyed.

"Someone brave enough, please, make them shut up! I am trying to get my beauty sleep." She yelled to the crew below.

Most of them laughed good-heartedly at her latter remark, but no one seemed willing to move towards the captain's cabin. She couldn't blame them really. Who would dare to get into the fight between the two most dangerous pirate captains at the Caribbean?

Well… she would.

She quickly got off the mast and started walking with long strides towards the stairs that would lead her to Edward's room.

Her posture was rigid and her head held high. Her eyes were filled with flames of anger and none attempted to stand on her way. They would all just take a step back whenever she got to close to them.

Not that anyone could blame them for that either. At first when the captain made her the second in command many of them had not held back their displeasure saying that they would not take orders from a mere woman. All of them paid the price of their arrogance. Some of them lost an eye or a finger, while others another part of their body that was even more… precious.

She chuckled at that thought, but her smile dropped when she find herself standing in front of the captain's door. She didn't even waste any time to knock and she just walked in ready to give to both of the captains her piece of mind about their fight.

Het entrance made both of them stop their assault to each other and instead to look at het with question.

"Good that got their attention." She thought. However, the real reason for the surprise on their faces was what she had decided to wear that day. A short red skirt with black patterns and a matching blouse that left little to imaginations was what got their attention.

However, when she opened her mouth to speak Edward woke from the trance he was in and raised his hand to silence her. Jerk or not he was still the captain of the ship he stood on, so she obeyed his silent order.

"Darling, I promise that when we are done you can kick my ass all you want, but right now I need your help."

Those made her reconsider yelling at him. "What?"

"Well… Mr. Tits and I are having a disagreement."

"Yeah, I can see that." She said while at the same time she pointed at the overthrown desk and the swords that were being pointed at each other's neck.

Thankfully when they saw her point they lowered their weapons. Them Edward pulled up the table and reset in order the papers that were lingering on the floor.

"Come here." He ordered.

She did as she was told and peered over the map. "Is it pirate or assassin business" she asked as he started explaining.

"Maybe both. The Spaniards are planning something…"

"The Spaniards are always planning something." Blackbeard snarled. "And why the hell there is a woman on you ship boy?"

And she had wonder when he would talk since he had remained silent from the moment she had walked in.

"Of course I forgot to introduce you." Edward said quickly before she had the chance to answer to his not so kind comment.

"Blackbeard this is Eva my second in command. Eva I am sure you know who Blackbeard is."

"Indeed." That moment she remembered why she had decided at the first place not to take part at this conversation and she realized why Edward had so urgently boot in before she could anything to the pirate captain that she would regret later. That jerk had probably saved her head.

"Well, as I was saying they are planning something and we need to find out what."

"And how do you suggest we do that." Blackbeard barked. "We have no way to do so and hell we don't even have to. We control the whole Carrabin, they can't reach us."

"The royal navy perhaps not, but what about the Templers? They are becoming stronger and they are behind the missing ships. I am sure."

"Ok no problem." She said casually. "You sent our spies in the royal navy to dig out information. Where is the problem?" The filled with questions looks they gave her answered her question.

"You have spies, right?"

"Well…" Edward answered. "You see…"

"You don't have spies! And you call yourself a master assassin?" She said angrily.

"I still don't see why you called me here only to be scolded by a girl." Blackbeard said obviously having had enough of her ramblings. "Even if they are planning our destruction the only thing we can do is fight when they come after us."

"Perhaps not" She said. Even though she didn't give a damn about any others man opinion about her she wanted to impress the man that stood in front of her and that was her best chance.

"Send me. I can infiltrate their circle. I've to similar missions before."

She was interrupted by Blackbeard's laugh.

"And how exactly are you planning to that. You are just a loose woman with not an ounce of royal blood in you vines. How exactly are you going to fool those royal dogs and make them believe that you are an aristocrat?"

She decided to ignore his insult and the fact that Edward didn't say anything for that while earlier he was ready to slaughter any of his men who even dare to look at her with disrespect. It kind of hurt… a bit.

"Who said that I was going to pose as an aristocrat?" she smiled slyly. "Those noble bastards have mistresses, don't they? I will pretend to be one of them."

The moment he heard the word mistress leave her mouth Edward saw red.

"No way!" he yelled furiously. "You are not going there like this."

"Why not?" was her answer "I've pored as a whore before and if I remember correctly it was your idea to do so?"

"Back them I was at the ally right next to you in case something went wrong. I won't be able to interfere this time."

"I do not need a babysitter _captain._ I can take care of my own."

"Still you are not going. It is too dangerous…"

"Perhaps she doesn't have to go alone." Blackbeard said. "You can go with her as her servant. In this way you will be able to… keep an eye on her." At first he had to stop himself from using the word protect. He wasn't blind or stupid. It was obvious that Edward wasn't worried about the success of the mission. He was worried about the men that would be near her during the mission. Men that didn't take no as an answer.

His idea seemed to calm him down a bit.

"Fine, since we have no other options I will order the crew to set sail towards Havana, where a member of the Templar order and the Spanish nobility will be."

"Good, now that this is settled I think I will head to the deck. Anyway, I am sure that Miss Eva would like to honor your part of the deal and kick your ass the moment I leave the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Captain Tits or Blackbeard, as most knew him, had never been a curious man interested in gossips, but when he stepped out of the cabin he couldn't resist the temptation to stay close to the door with the hope of hearing their conversation.

And that was what he did until a member of Edward's crew, a boy no older than sixteen came down the stairs.

At first the boy hesitated to walk further when he saw him. The next moment however he realized what the pirate captain was doing and a mischievous smile came to his face.

"Are they fighting again?" He asked with all his initial hesitation forgotten. Before Blackbeard had the chance to answer the boy had turned around and had let a loud whistle.

Two seconds ago half of the crew was in front of the same door eavesdropping.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

At the mean time behind the door:

"What the hell where you thinking when you came storming in here? Do you even know how easily he could have you just because you interrupted us?"

"You fight woke me up." She said casually. "And you have no right to judge my behavior. You are the one who started the fight with him, because you could not come to an agreement. He could have easily killed you as well had I not interfered. And don't tell me that you had everything under control because that wasn't the case."

"But…"

"No buts!" she all but yelled. "And what about you behavior after that? You are ready to kill every other man who dares to say anything insulting about me and yet you didn't even have the guts to utter a word when he called me a loose woman, a whore!" She couldn't contain her anger anymore. Of course she had heard much worse since the moment she had step a foot on the Caribbean, but every time he had him on her side.

"And what's your problem anyway? Why not let me do the mission. I thought I had already proved my skills to you, but I guess I was wrong since you do not trust me to do this."

He didn't speak. Actually, he was left speechless.

So when she started walking towards the door he didn't stop her. He couldn't run to her, grab her hand, apologize and confess to her that he didn't want to let her go, because he was worries about her. Every day he would hear rumors about nobles killing their own wives so as only not to come to the light that they were abusing them. The truth was that he didn't give a damn about the mission if it involved her being in danger.

So, he just stayed there when she opened the door.

However, he had to admit that the sight of half of his crew, including Blackbeard, falling on the doorstep did wonders with his foul mood.

**I hope you liked it**

**please let me know if i should cotinue or not**


	2. Night at the tavern

One of the things she never understood about those bloody pirates was how they could drink so much of this drink with the awful taste and the nauseous smell, which they called rum.

Not to mention that a cup of this thing contained more alcohol than a doctors handbag. However, she had to admit that she was impressed with how much of this fowl substance their dear captain was able to consume without passing out like the rest of the crew.

The worst thing was that in the end of this fateful night she would be to drag their drunken asses back to the ship, since she would be the only one to remain sober.

A heavy hand that landed on her shoulder make her forget those thoughts and suppress a sigh of pure annoyance.

She turned her head only to find herself a few centimeters away from the great pirate captain named Blackbeard. To her she didn't seem not even half as intimidating as the sailors' stories described him to be. From a close range she could find no difference between him and every drunken fool that sat around her at the dim-lighted tavern.

"So, miss…" He started.

"Just Eva is fine, sir. It's been so long that even I can't remember my last name."

She gave him a sly smile even though she was ready to jump out of his reach and run straight to the closest door. This situation was only bringing back to her mind memories she had tried far too long to forget.

Although, a moment later her eyes landed on Edward, who was glaring daggers at their direction. Only then she realized that Blackbeard's hand was tightly locked around her and had started caressing her shoulder.

That gave her an idea!

"So, did you want to tell me something, sir?" She turned her attention to the man next to her, who had had obviously more than a couple of drinks.

"Yes, you see I am curious about you. You are the only woman on a ship filled with pirates. Doesn't that make you fill like an outsider?"

"You said it yourself we are pirates we are all outsiders that decided to live only for themselves." He laughed.

"I knew I liked you for a reason!" He exclaimed and she felt his hand moving lower to her waist. Even though she wasn't facing him she could feel Edward eyes glaring just right there.

"Well, what I meant is that as the only woman, who no member of the crew has the guts to even talk to, you must be feeling quite lonely." She knew where he was getting it and even though she didn't like it at all she decided to play along. Whether that was because she enjoyed his attention or Edward's, she didn't know.

"Now that you are mentioning it. Yes it gets quite lonely especially at nights. If only there was someone to keep me company some nights when I am on deck doing my shift."

"What a pity such a… interesting woman like you not to gain the attention she disserves. What if I told you that this night I am at your disposal?" When he had finished his sentence his hand was on her thigh. "There are so many things I would like to discuss with you.

That moment she realized what she was doing, she was heading straight to the wolves lair.

That was too far.

She remembered the words of these high-class women she would meet on the streets every time they would reach a harbor. "That's the whore that sleeps with the pirates" they whispered under their breathes when they thought that she didn't listen. She would barely spare them a second glance, because she knew that they were wrong. They did not know all the things she had gone through, what monsters she had left behind when she started a new life at the Jackdaw, when she was reborn as Siren.

That moment, however, there she stood ready to validate their words. Fear wrapped her heart tightly, which started beat faster and faster.

"So, what do you thing, darling, would you like to spend some of your time with a pirate like me?" She turned to face him, took his hand, she led it back on the table in front of them and stood up.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. You have to understand that I promised myself once not to become a man's plaything again." He wasn't a bit surprised or insultedwith her words on the contrary he smiled and tried to grab her again.

She took a step back, she was ready to run away and then a warm hand grasped her wrist and a man started dragging her to the back of the tavern, then through the back door and to the alley behind the small building.

When the cold summer breeze hit her straight to the face she broke out of her initial shock and took out her pistol ready to shoot only to find that her attacker was no one else than Edward.

His eyes were filled with anger and his moth was set on a thin line. When raised her head to face him for a moment she believed that she stood in front of a beast not a man.

The fear she had initially felt with Blackbeard came back ten times stronger. She didn't let it show, she didn't have the luxury to do so and her face remained impassive.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked not so kindly.

"I would ask you exactly the same thing." He growled. "What were you doing back there?"

"Having some fun." She bit back. At least that was how it had started, as a joke to annoy him.

"Fun!? Do you even know how easily he could have…" He didn't finish his sentence. He didn't have to, she understood very well. Pirates were no gentlemen.

Still that didn't explain why he had dragged her there.

He was a pirate himself; he had no reason to look after her wellbeing and for some odd reason that realization angered her even more than him dragging her back there.

"Whether he had his way with me or not why would you even care at the first place? Her words were meant to be something more like a dry comment than an actual question. "You…"

He silenced her by crashing both of his hands on the wall behind her effectively trapping her on the way.

"I have no idea why." He stated leaning closer, while she stood frozen with fear and excitement. He stopped only when his lips touched her ear.

"I have no idea why you make me feel something more intense than everything I've felt before. I don't know why, but I am ready to kill every man who will try to take this, to take you from me."

She let her eyelids close. His deep voice, his hot breath on the side of her face and the warmth that was radiated from his body made her heart melt and her body suddenly felt weaker.

After a moment she smiled.

"Yes, it is a thing we, sirens, do. We cast our spell over sailors and pirates alike and we make them feel all the things you feel now. It is just one of our games."

He turned his face so his nose touched her cheek.

"I don't think that it is the truth you speak, my Siren. You've never casted a spell on me. What I feel comes from myself not from your magic."

She opened her mouth to answer, to tell him that he was wrong and that he was being stupid for saying such things That what was happening right now was all a lie, because that way it would be so much easier. It would be so convenient to pretend that it was all a bad joke they decided to play to each other.

But before she had the chance to utter a word his lips were covering hers. That moment none of them could speak or think. They could only kiss back with all the hunger and the passion that their words could not describe and they themselves didn't dare to admit.

The next moment he was the one to pull back breathless. Then she smelled the alcohol in his breath and saw the fear in his eyes.

He had just realized what he had done and said and he was scared as much as she.

He took a quick step back and then run back to the tavern shutting the loudly the door behind him and leaving her behind.

She knew all along that this was going to happen, but in the end that didn't ease her pain at all and it definitely didn't stop the tears that came to her eyes and run down her cheeks.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Five minutes later, after she had wiped her face and calmed her heart, she walked back inside. Edward had already emptied a bottle of rum and was heading for the next. The next morning he wouldn't remember a thing.

It was better that way. They were both big cowards to even mind.

This night would just be like many others, in which she and the captain would bury their desires a bit deeper within themselves.


	3. Tommy

Tommy couldn't remember much of his life before the pirates. His mother's memory was just a shadow that lingered on the back of his mind. He couldn't recall at all how she looked like or how she behaved, only how she spoke.

Yes, her voice was still written in his memories along with few of her words that she would repeat to him again and again.

"Always listen to the words of the priests my boy. They are the ones who connect simple humans like us with the glory of God.

'She was religious' that was one of the things he had concluded about her.

However, he stopped following her advice the day she died. From that day he realized that all the church's man would say were lies. How could they describe to him a God of justice and mercy, who at the same nothing to help his mother when illness made her life fade away day by day and who didn't even try to stop his father when he had sold him away as a slave to a captain from the Caribbean?

Where were the mercy and the justice to that?

In the end he found shelter among the men of the devil, the pirates. However, on the Jackdaw things weren't easy either.

Captain Edward was kind enough to spare his life and make him part of his crew, but his ordeal was far from over. The hard work was nothing compared to what he had to endure from the crew. He was the youngest, only 11 years old, so he was the weakest the one to take in without complain the harsh words and the punishments. In the end he got used to that as well.

Then she came. At first she would not make fun of him when he did something wrong or stupid, then when she would get a higher place at the ship's hierarchy she would look after him and later she would comfort him when the nightmares would come some nights.

She gave him back little by little what he had lost with his mother's death.

In return he held her secret well hidden. It was something he had discovered piece by piece.

When the captain had asked for her name she had said that her people called her Eva, but she was lying. Tommy was sure of that.

Eva was a name that fit a human not a creature of the sea.

Yes that she was. He knew it.

It wasn't only her odd beauty. That trait of her was obvious to everybody anyway. Everyone could see that her almond blue eyes held something alien, her black hair always seemed as if they were made of silk and her skin was constantly pale white no matter how much time she spent under the sun every day. It was flawless apart from the mystical drawing on the back of her neck, which pattern he couldn't make out.

It wasn't the way they found her either, what betrayed her. Even though that event was quite unique.

Josh, the one that kept watch that day, saw her first, while she was floating in the middle of the ocean on a wooden board. He had immediately ordered me… more like yelled to bring the captain and to tell him that there was a good reason for all the rush. A beauty lost in the sea is not something that you see every day.

When the captain reached the deck and saw her didn't waste a moment and jumped straight into the sea. Two minutes later he was leaning over her in the middle of the deck.

Everyone had thought that moment that she was long dead, because she was not breathing. When Edward touched her neck to check for a pulse that moment her eyes shot open and her chest started moving rapidly, while air filled her lungs again.

Everyone was left speechless that day. It was as if the captain's touch had given her life and as if she was reborn, like he was when he stepped on the Jackdaw and from Thomas he became Tommy.

That was when he had started suspecting her.

What gave her away, however, was nothing as spectacular as that event. It was her voice, just this little trait of her. When she sang to him her lullaby for the first time he knew that a creature like her could not possibly have come from this world.

Of course, he had heard singers before at the tavern where the crew would spend most of his time when they reached a harbor. Most of them were whores with a nice voice that wanted to earn a few extra coins. Their songs were whispers compare to the melody of her voice. It held something unique which she had decided to share with him and for that he was grateful.

However, all these were not enough. Curiosity was eating him alive, so he decided to test her himself and see if his speculations were true.

One day he left a note at one of her books.

"Meet me at the deck at noon.

Timmy"

Then he climbed at the mast and waited. Heights never scared him, so when he saw her come he didn't hesitate a moment before he jumped to the sea below.

He let a small yell leave his mouth, only to make sure that he had caught her attention and that she had seen him fall.

When he came in contact with the sea surface the water that enfolded him was so cold that immidietly he went into shock. He couldn't move a limb and he was sinking, but he wasn't scared. He knew that she would save him.

And he was right. A moment later he saw somebody join him under the sea surface. It was her.

When she swam towards him, grabbed his waist and started dragging him to the surface and then to the sheep, he had no doubts left.

Everything after they reached the Jackdaw was all a blur. He could only remember a few words that were exchanged between her and the captain.

"What the hell happened here?"

"Tommy fell from the mast. He probably slipped. Are you going to help me carry him inside or not? The boy will catch his death if he stays with his wet clothes."

"Where exactly inside are we going to carry him?"

"At you room of course."

"What!?"

"Do you have any better ideas?"

"…."

"Good, now help me."

Then everything went black.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Tommy woke up it was already dark outside. She was gone and only the captain was left with him in the room, probably because well… it was his room where he had slept most of the day and probably because Eva wanted someone to stay with him while she had to go to her shift and had somehow persuaded or more like threatened Edward to be the unlucky one to do the babysitting. Yes the latter was more possible.

Damn, when he had made his plan he didn't consider the captain's reaction. He was definitely furious and Tommy was in serious trouble.

"You really scared her back there you know." Lost in his thoughts he jumped with the sound of the captain's voice, but he kept his composure.

Edward sat on a chair right next to the bed in which he laid.

"Sorry captain I slipped. It won't happen again."

"For your own good I really hope so. Eva was ready to kill Bob for letting a ten-year-old to climb up to the mast."

"Hey! I am almost twelve…" The look Edward gave him topped him from finishing that sentence, but it didn't stop him from starting a new one "And Bob never gave me his permission. I climbed there without him knowing."

"Why?"

"Um… because I was curious." That was ironically the truth, only that it wasn't the view up there that had caused his curiosity.

Edward stood up suddenly making Tommy jump again.

"God boy, you could have been killed!"

"I got lucky, however." With his answer Edward's expression from angered became confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Can you keep a secret?" Tommy answered his question with one of his own.

Edward returned to his chair and sat right in front of him.

"Yes." Tommy leaned closer.

"She could breathe under the water. I saw it!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"It was not an accident, was it?"

"No, he wanted to test me."

"Test you? He also said that he saw you breath underwater."

"It was a hallucination mixed with his own fantasy. He jumped because he wanted to see if I really am what he thinks."

"What does he think you are?"

"A siren." That is how he has being calling me for a while"

"Siren?!"

"Yea, why?"

"Nothing, I actually like it. It suits you."


	4. Consequenses part 1

"I am sure she has hidden it somewhere over here." Edward muttered while he was searching the cook's cupboard, which was located to the back of the ship hidden from prying eyes and hands.

"Gotcha!" he thought when his hand touched something cold and hard on the very back of the cupboard. He took the bottle filled with rum on his hand and then put it on his lips, but he didn't have the chance to drink any of it.

Her voice suddenly echoed inside his head and made him lose all his appetite for alcohol.

"Look at you; you really are addicted to that poison. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything more from a pirate." It was as if she was standing right there in front of him and was scolding like she would probably do if she ever saw him like this.

He let the bottle on the nearest table and let a sigh of frustration.

It was unthinkable. He was a master assassin and a pirate captain and he would leave a woman order him around even when she wasn't even in the room.

"She is the reason I am drinking at the first place." He said finely mainly to himself and moved to=o leave the not so spacious kitchen of the ship. This time he was stopped by the closing voices of few of his men that entered the space behind the kitchen's door.

Unknown to him was that the place where he and those men stood was known to the whole crew as the only place on this ship, where they could speak and mainly gossip (like wives at the bakery) freely and without worrying about losing their heads or their genitals.

And that was because Edward and Eva rarely got down there always being busy on the upper deck.

Unknown to those men was that that special day the captain had gotten down there for the first time looking desperately for a drink since someone (and with someone we mean Eva of course) had taken from his cabin every liquid that contained alcohol.

So, the only person that they were trying to avoid by coming to that hall was standing unfortunately right behind them.

"So, what's the bet this time?" Someone asked who Edward recognized as Bob, Eva's current right hand.

"For how long will the Siren manage to keep the captain away from rum before he explodes obviously." They all laughed at that and Edward felt his blood boiling. He would make sure to punish them later for that.

"I don't think it will take long. The captain is not known to be a patient men and …" Bob's voice suddenly became quieter, but thankfully he could still hear him "Don't tell me you haven't noticed."

"Notice what?" Josh asked.

"I know." Said a voice he didn't recognize, but it didn't matter really. "Something is wrong with the Siren. The last moths she has being strange."

That made Edward go stiff.

"Strange how?" Josh asked again.

"She is getting weaker as if she is sick. I even caught her stumble a few times."

"Unposhible, that woman is strong like a horse and stubborn like mull. She will be the one to burry us all in the end, trust me."

"I don't think so. Jack is right. She looks ready to faint at any moment."

"Maybe she is pregnant." Josh said. Then Edward heard a slap. Bob had probably hit him on the head like he used to do when Josh would say something stupid.

A faint smile grazed his lips with that thought, but the next moment it was gone when the captain realized what his man had just said. He stayed still trying to hear more.

"And who do you think is the father genius. No one here is allowed to touch her, not that anyone would dare to do so."

"Is the captain included to that rule?" Josh bit back.

Silence fall.

"I thought so." He said.

"You are both idiots." Another unknown voice said "There is no way that this is the case because…" he was going to say that the whole thing had being going on for months and with the clothes she was wearing they would be able to tell if she was with child or not.

But the captain never heard that. When the sailor was ready to finish his sentence a voice from upper deck put an end to their gossip for that day.

"Josh, Bob, Jack, and Samuel where the hell are you, you lazy dogs?" Get over here before I call Miss Eva."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Eva was sitting on her bed. Her elbows touched the mattress and were supporting her bowed head. Cold sweat was running down her body, her stomach was turned upside down and she could swear that the room was spinning around her.

She hated those seizures. For five months they have been coming and going. At first she was sure that they would pass like last time. That day five months later she wondered if they would ever.

What the hell was she supposed to say now to Edward or Tommy or the rest of the crew?

Actually, after second thoughts she wouldn't, no couldn't tell them anything. No she would have to fight it alone like she did the last time.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, that's what they say, but what if it killed her this time she wondered.

Her dreadful thoughts were stopped by the sound of her door opening and someone walking into the room. From the sound of his footsteps she could tell that it was Edward.

At first she was glad for his interruption, but she raised her head to look at him she changed her mind.

"That can't be good" She thought. He hadn't given her that look since she had set his hair on fire (long story, don't ask).

"What's wrong?" she asked when she found her voice.

"I would ask you the same thing." He said sternly.

That moment with no actual reason the nausea came back ten times worse.

Just her luck.

"Edward" she said as calm as possible while her mouth was getting filled with saliva "Do you see that bucket next to my bed."

"Yes?" he said a bit confused.

"Bring it here and then you tell me what I did has put you to such a foul mood."

He did as he was told and when the bucket was in front of her she lost no time and immediately emptied her breakfast in it.

When she was done she looked at him, who currently stood next to her bed.

His expression had changed again to one of utter panic.

"Edward" She said half-heartily "I am the one who should be pale here. Why do you look as if you have just seen a ghost?"

"What happened that night at the tavern?" he answered with a question.

She froze and her heart starting beating harder. Had he remembered?

"What are you talking about?" she tried to cover it, but he didn't bought it.

"You know better than to play the fool with me Eva. I recall dragging you from Blackbeard's grasp to the alley behind the tavern. What happened after that?"

"You drank half of the tavern's stock to forget what happened that night. Why do you want to remember now?"

"So something really happened." He accused and she bit her lip to hide a sigh of defeat. Stupid girl had given herself in.

"And to answer your question about why I want to know" he continued "I am afraid that the consequences of my actions that night will never allow me to forget."

He kneeled in front of her in order to be on the same eye level with her and put his hand on each of her shoulders. His touch wasn't too hard but not too gentles either.

"Please Eva tell me what did I do?"

A smile came to her lips. It was now or never.

"You kissed me." He kept looking at her expecting to hear more, but she didn't.

"Just that?" He seemed shocked for a moment.

"What do you mean by just that?" it was her turn to get annoyed. Was that his reaction after she had told him that he had done to her the closest thing to a love confession that he would do in his whole life?

Suddenly he jumped back to his feet and as far from her as possible, as if her skin had suddenly burned him.

"Then who the hell is the father?" He yelled. What he felt however wasn't anger. It was jealousy.

"What?!" Ok, she had started to get really confused, but then it hit her.

"You think I'm pregnant?" Was the situation any different she would have laughed her ass off. That, however would anger him even more, so she decided against it.

"Are you?" He asked hesitantly, all his anger had suddenly disappeared… again.

"Of course not! How the hell did you get that idea into that empty head of yours?"

She stood up from the bed and then walked closer to him so as to face him properly. However she did all those too fast and while she hadn't recovered fully from the last seizure. She stumbled and she would have ended on the hard wooden floor if he hadn't caught her.

He put his hands around her waist mostly to keep her from falling again.

"Well, how do you explain that then?" he asked with a smug look on his face.

"I've been a bit sick lately."

"For how long?"

"Five months."

"Five months!? The moment we reach land you are going to see a doctor."

"No need it will stop eventually." He didn't look convinced. Could she tell him the truth? She was ready to do so, but she changed her mind the next moment.

"It always stops. It happens often to Sirens when they feel some kind of homesickness."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Then I'd better leave you alone to rest."

"I'd appreciate that dearly."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She leaned onto the door after he had closed it behind him. She was a step before passing out, because of the dizziness. Still only one thought passed her mind.

"I am sorry that I had to lie to you again my love."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Edward leaned on the opposite side of the door only then he realized what she had said to him.

You kissed me.

He had done what?! Stupid, arrogant man who couldn't keep his bloody mouth shut.

"And now what?" he thought.


	5. the hostages

"Miss Eva?" A tall, lean man with jet black hair yelled while he walked along the narrow hallway under the deck which led to her room that was separated from the resting place of the rest of the crew.

"What is it Josh?" She asked the moment she got out to face him.

"The Captain asked for you. He said it was important."

"God, what does that jerk want again?"

Her comment earned a small snicker from Josh while the man was leading her to the upper deck.

There she found him right in front of the ship's wheel. He was looking through his spyglass, so he didn't hear her when she approached him.

For some reason he was utterly focused on what he was looking over the horizon.

"That's it sweetheart, come a bit closer." He muttered under his breath and she rolled her eyes.

"Edward, are you cheating on me?" was her dry comment a moment later.

He almost jumped at the sound of her voice and turned to look at her with his surprise written all over his face.

"Sweetheart?" She continued slyly.

"Eva… um… I was. Just look." He said and handed her the spyglass.

She looked to where he was pointing.

'What do you see?" He asked.

"A ship."

"What kind of a ship?"

He smirked. So, it was a test.

"A riyal ship"

"What else?"

"There is a red cross on every sail. It's an English royal ship."

"Good, you are learning fast." He took the spyglass from her hands and started explaining.

"Some very important people are traveling with that ship. The duke William of… something the third, cousin of the king himself is in there along with his wife, daughter and his mistress."

"Busy man he is."

He ignored her comment.

"Those are our targets."

"Are we here to kill them?"

"No, unfortunately no matter what a big arrogant, bastard Williams is, he is not a Templar."

"So, it is pirate business then."

"Exactly we are here to kidnap them. The king will pay us a fortune to have his cousin back no matter if he likes him or not. His reputation would be ruined if he let his own blood on the hands of criminals. It's a golden chance…"

"How old the daughter?"

"Five or less." He answered a bit annoyed, because of her interruption.

"Are you out of your mind? We are going to kidnap a child?"

"From all I said that's the only thing you care about?" "Yes!"

"Unbelievable"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

While Edward was trying to get close to his 'sweetheart', Eva got ready for the upcoming battle. She put off her black dress and put on her black trousers, a loose white shirt and her black corset over it, which made her chest more obvious from the upper part of the shirt, which was left intentionally unbuttoned.

When she finally tied her belt, sword and pistols around her waist she felt the ship turn suddenly on its left side and collide with something also made of wood.

Just in time. The battle had begun.

She run back to the deck and then jumped straight to the other ship.

Smoke and screams had filled the air. You could smell the powder the blood.

Obviously some of William's men weren't intimidated enough by their black flag so as to surrender like many of their targets had done before them.

Big mistake.

She fought her way towards the middle of the other ship's deck where her captain stood at all his glory fighting as if there was no tomorrow.

The men she had met so far had proven to be little challenge. The first one, when he saw that she was a woman, gave her a smug look thinking probably that she would give him an easy victory. The point of her sword that was plunged right between his eyes changed his mind.

The other two that followed seeing their friend's failure were more careful.

They tried taking her together. She blocked their combined attack and with two of her own they ended bleeding on the wooded floor.

After that she found herself on Edwards's side.

"So, how is it going?" She asked.

"So far so good"

That moment a sailor was ready to stab him from behind. She lost no time.

Eva put her hands on Edward's shoulder and sprang her feet with all the strength she could master. With a perfect back flip she jumped over him and landed on the other man not forgetting at the same time to bury her dagger on his neck.

When the sailor falls dead on the deck she was on her feet again and stood right in front of the captain who gave her a mixed expression of surprise and awe.

"Well…" She said "I've got your back."

"I figured as much." he said and then immediately raised his pistol towards her. She got the message and bowed a second before he shot the men that was coming behind her with his sword raised.

"So, do I."

With that the fight was over.

Seeing those two fight was enough to make the rest surrender since they love their life mot=re that the one of their master.

It wasn't difficult to find William and his family after that. They were the most well-dressed on the ship.

The problem was getting him on their ship. He would yell and curse them all and in the end it took two of Edward's men to restrain him and lead him to the cell that was located on the bottom the ship.

"How dare you, you outcasts to touch me! I will kill you all for what you did." He would yell.

And this whole thing continued till two hours later.

"Ok, that was it." Eva almost yelled in frustration. "Even my patience has its limits."

She headed towards the ladder that led downstairs only to be stopped by Edward's hand that was put in front of her.

"Eva we need him alive in order to get the ransom."

"I just can't stand him anymore." She said annoyed, but not as angry as before.

"Come on, love. You've stood up with me for almost two years. I'm sure you can handle him for a couple of weeks."

"Fine, I'm not going to kill him, but I'm shutting that big mouth of his."

She took few more steps towards the stairs, but then she stopped and faced him again, as if she had forgotten to tell him something.

"Do you by any chance have a needle and some thread handy?"

"Eva!"

"No? Fine, I'll ask some from the doctor." She said and walked away.

Edward found her again as expected in front of the cells, but thankfully his mouth wasn't sewn and he could till yell his lungs out while his wife and mistress stood terrified on the back.

"I demand to see your captain right now." Hs shouted.

Edward stood out from the shadow that hid him.

"He is right here. What do you want?"

"To get me out of here for a start"

"That I'm afraid is not going to happen."Did he really thought that they were going to let him go just because he ordered then so.

"Then at least take a hold of that whore of yours, who behaves as if she is the boss in here."

Eva didn't talk, but Edward could see that this exact insult triggered something in her. Her balled fists showed anger and fury while her eyes showed sadness. He wasn't going to let the bastard get to her.

"She is the boss here when I say so." He said dryly. "Unless you have a death wish, you'd better keep your mouth shut."

Before any of them had the chance to say more the doctor came into the room. He was a man of medium height and build with light brown hair.

"Maim I brought the thread and the needle you asked."

"Forget it Jack. What I need now it's a knife, a big one."

When William's wife heard that her eyes widened and she run to her husband's side leaving her daughter to the back of the cell.

"My lord please listen to them for our sake."

William didn't seem to share his wife's concern. The bastard knew that they wanted him alive. On the contrary, he seemed a bit more than annoyed from his wife's interruption.

He pushed her suddenly back which to her losing her footing and falling on the hard wooden floor. He raised his hand to hit him, but he never got the chance.

Eva that moment having realized his intentions had already snatched the key from Edwards's belt and had opened the iron door. She put herself between her and him.

Then, she grasped his hand and with one move she twisted it behind his back bringing him on his knees at the same time.

The Siren hovered him from behind and whispered in his ear "If I see you attempt something like that again on this ship I swear I'll cut you in pieces and hang your genitals over my door as a trophy."

Then she turned to his wife.

"Get up, take your child and follow me."

She left William on the floor, who was still moaning in pain and got out of the cell with his wife and daughter on her heels.

"Where do you think you are taking the prisoners?" Edward said at last.

"I don't see then as prisoners, but as victims of an unworthy man. I'm not letting them another second with him. They will be staying with me."

It wasn't a bad idea, he had to admit, but perhaps a bit unorthodox. He knew that those two would pose no threat if he let them out and with Eva's protection the crew wouldn't be threat to them.

However, he wasn't planning to let her get things her own way that easy.

"Not without my consent." He said with a challenging smirk. "I am still the captain and I make decisions like that one, don't you ever forget it."

"Rest assured that I will not." She bit back, but then she tried to think rationally. It didn't benefit her to argue with him this time. She needed his approval for that.

"What do you want in return?" She asked after a moment of thought.

When Edward took a moment to consider her offer she knew she had won this round. Edward Kenway could always be bought for the right price. She knew him to well.

"I want you to sing tonight so as to see if Tommy's words hold some truth in them."

"Deal"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She led them to her room.

When they got inside she had the chance to get a better look at those two hostages.

Williams's wife was indeed very beautiful with long blond hair, green eyes, around face and soft features. However, the lines on her forehead and the black bags under her eyes obscured her beauty.

Her dress was too long and heavy and was obviously hindering her movements. The corset was so tightly wrapped around her that it seem as if it was squeezing her life out of her making her ready to pass out at any moment.

Considering her latest adventure Eva wondered how this hadn't already happened.

Thankfully her little one looked much better. She was perhaps a bit scared, but her little brown eyes showed not only fear but also energy and curiosity. She was like a small copy of her mother with her blond curls and soft pink lips.

Eva pointed her hand towards her double bed.

"Take a sit" She said. William's wife did as she was told and took also her daughter on her knees. Eva sat on the only chain in the room, which she had positioned right in front of them.

"What is your name?" She asked them.

"Anna, maim, and this is Elizabeth, my daughter."

"You can call me Eva. Maim is too formal for my taste."

"Only when they see that I am angry or annoyed, this would mean that saying the wrong words could cost them dearly.

She gave a small laugh at her comment, but Anna didn't seem so amused. "Anyway… Most times they call me Siren, but the reason for that is a story for another day."

She got up and opened her closet. Anna's eyes never left her form as she moved

"But first thing first. I want you out of this thing, that they call latest fashion, as soon as possible. Only looking at you is painful."

She pulled out a simple blue peasant dress with no corset of course and handed it to her.

"This I assure you will be much more comfortable and it will allow you to breathe freely for once in your life."

"Thank you." Anna said quietly "For everything"

"My pleasure. I'm going to let you get dressed now and I'll bring you something to eat as well."

Anna didn't say anything else, so she thought that their conversation had come to an end. However, when she reached the door the other woman spoke again.

"Wait" she said.

Eva turned around to face her.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, actually things right now are better than they had been fir years. I want to ask you something."

"I am all ears."

"I saw the way you face the captain and the rest of the crew. You show them no fear or hesitation and in return you get their respect. Only a madwoman would dare to try something like that and…" Eva shushed her by raising her hand.

"No, Anna I am not mad, if that is what you are asking me. I am simply free." She said and continued. "Since I was born they would always tell me that I had to obey and fear men. That matched to my gender. I knew I could do more than that, so I fought them and I won in a way, but that unfortunately didn't come without loses or pain."

Anna stayed silent once again once again and just looked at her with something close to shame in her eyes.

"Now, I have a question about you."

"What could you possible want to know about me? I am what you see, nothing more."

"I don't believe you. I saw it in your eyes when you tried to stop William, no matter if you failed. Inside you there is a woman like me strong and fearless, who wants to get out."

"She was out and free once."

"I see, so my question is: What happened to that woman?"

"She was forced to leave her only love and marry an abusive husband."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That night she walked along the deck with her violin on her hands.

The men had already started celebrating their victory. That day not only had they managed to catch William, but his ship itself was filled with game like golden coins and supplies that would keep for months. That was a good reason to celebrate.

From where she stood she could feel the sea breeze in her face, smell the alcohol and the sweet and most importantly hear their happy songs. It was indeed a good night.

Half of the crew was sitting on the ships sides drinking; three others were playing the music. One played accordion and another flute. The rest of the men were already drunk and they were dancing in the middle if the ship.

However, when they saw her coming they all stopped whatever they were doing.

Half of them did so because of what she had worn. She had chosen a dark blue dress that reached her knees and left her shoulders and collarbone bare. Black lace adorned the end of its skirt and its long sleeves. She usually didn't wear such fancy clothes, but this was a special occasion.

Anyway, the other men stopped because they had heard previously about her deal with their dear captain.

And speaking of the devil, Edward came that moment out of nowhere and stood right next to her. With a nod of his head he told her mutely to continue.

She started walking forward. The empty place she left next to him was replaced in no time by Adam.

The ship's second in command was a tall man, muscular, with dark black hair and grey eyes, which carried always a constant look filled with malice and hatred that could make the bravest sailor tremble with fear.

The last months he and the captain would argue on many things.

Things that mainly had to do with the ship's Siren.

"Listen for once the word from the wise Edward."

"What?" the captain almost growled.

"Put an end to it while you still can."

"I am not following you."

"I am talking about the woman. She has been here for one a year and a half and she has already started to get under your skin. When the crew starts to notice they will doubt your authority and power and…"

"Is the possibility of a mutiny the reason you despise her or the fact that she will never agree to sleep with you. Quite a hit to your pride it was when she declined your constant begging and humiliated you in front of the whole ship, wasn't it?"

Edward gave a sarcastic laugh for emphasis. That made Adam leave infuriated the exact moment Eva reached the side of the ship where the musicians stood.

She handed her violin to Tommy who stood on her side.

"Play the first song I taught you." She whispered in his ear.

The eleven-year-old took the instrument from her hands and put it on his shoulder. No one dared to even breathe when she started singing.

I'll make my communion with seawater, Distilled from your body drop by drop, in an ancient copper cup from Algiers, As done by pirates of old before the fight. Where are you coming from? From Babylon, Where are you going? To the eye of the cyclone. Whom do you love? A Gypsy maid, What is her name? Fata Morgana A leather sail, all smeared with wax, Of cedar-wood reeking, of incense and varnish, Like the smell of the hold in an aging ship Built at that time on Euphrates in Phoenicia. Where are you coming from? From Babylon, Where are you going? To the eye of the cyclone. Whom do you love? A Gypsy maid, What is her name? Fata Morgana. Fire-hued rust in the mines of Sina, The capes of Gerakini and Stratoni That coating, that old blessed rust gave us birth, It feeds us, feeds on us, and then it kill us. Where are you coming from? From Babylon, Where are you going? To the eye of the cyclone. Whom do you love? A Gypsy maid, What is her name? Fata Morgana.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Anna stood in the shadows while the Siren sang and stayed there for hours after she was done.

She waited and waited while her head was being filled with thoughts and doubts.

The one moment she wanted to go straight and talk to her and then she was fighting the urge to run back to the cabin and burry herself under the covers of her temporary bed.

After another hour passed she was ready to do the second, but when she turned around to leave a hand grasped her forearm.

She was to yell for help but then she realized that this hand belonged to her new friend.

"What are you doing here?" Eva asked alarmed "I told you to stay at the room. No matter how much those criminals respect me or fear me they can be very dangerous when they get drunk."

"Trust me they are the last thing that worries me tonight."

"What is it?"

"I need your help."

"To do what?"

"To gain my freedom once and for all"

From that moment she and Eva would share in their hearts the shame fire.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An hour after midnight Edward returned to his room. No cuddles were lit apart from one small one on the right side of his bed.

Had he not been so exhausted from the day's events or so drunk and drowsy because of the rum, he would have remembered that when he last left the room no candles were lit and he would come to conclusion that someone else had come to his room. Someone who could still be there.

But of course he never came to that conclusion, because…well he was too tired and drunk.

He turned his back to his bed and started undressing. He put off his weapons and armor. His robes and undershirt followed soon after.

Only when his hands came to the hem of his trousers did he feel the presence behind him.

Suddenly every trace of alcohol disappeared from his blood and he turned around to face his intruder with his fists raised.

"Oh, come on! You stopped at the best part." A female voice said from the shadows.

It was Eva who slowly came to the illuminated side of the bed.

"How long have you been here?" He asked while he pulled his trousers a bit further upon his waist. Just to be sure.

"Half an hour more or less, since I left the party"

"What the hell do you want?"

"Well since Anna and her daughter are staying at my room I need place to sleep. You know that I can't fall asleep on the floor."

"And you decided out of pure coincidence to come here?"

"It was either your bed or Adam's." That made him shut his mouth for a moment and that was all she needed.

"Anyway, I also wanted to talk to you about something."

"Since I am sure that I won't get any sleep tonight with you here, please tell me what is bothering the pretty head of yours."

"We could do fine and without the sarcasm you know."

He sighed in defeat and sat on the end of the bed turning his back a bit in order to face her.

"You know already that I am not going to let Anna on the hands of that bastard again."

"It's not up to you. When the ransom is given we return them all back together."

"The king doesn't give a dam about the wife or the daughter." She stated.

It was true. Not even William cared about them.

"Still it isn't your business or mine. We can't keep them with us for any reason. The code is clear: no man brings and keeps women and children on the ship, not even the captain."

"Well, you kept me." She teased.

"I didn't bring you. You came on your own and when you sighed the contract you became part of the crew."

Well, he was right about that, but…

"I ever said that we were going to keep them here as if they were lost puppies."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Out next destination is Kingston, right?"

"Yes"

"Good, this is where Anna's lover used to live. I want your permission to stay at the city for a couple of days in order to see if he is still there."

"And if you find him you give him Anna, correct?"

"And the child. I don't think that William will mind since it's a girl and what he needs is a male heir."

He gave her a skeptical look.

"Fine, you can do that, but if you don't find him Anna is still going back with her husband."

"Deal"

He stood up while she got herself under the covers.]

Then it hit him.

"Where am I going to sleep?"

"It's a double bed Edward." was her dry comment.

"You are overestimating my self-control woman."

Not to mention the alcohol that still run in his veins. The idea of her lying on the same bed with him had already made his temperature rise.

"Maybe, I am goddamm sure that you would never hurt me in purpose."

When she finished her words he was out of the room. She may trust him, but he didn't trust himself at all.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"William, when are we getting out of here? I am cold and hungry and…"

"Shut up woman, I am trying to think." The duke almost shouted.

He couldn't stand her complaints anymore. Sure Catherine was a beautiful woman with her red hair and all her curves at all the right places, but William thought that she didn't disserve the trouble anymore. The moment he got out of this bloody ship he would get rid of her with the first chance he got.

His thoughts were interrupted when a tall black-haired man walked through the door.

"Good evening sir, I hope you have enjoyed your stay on our ship so far."

William grasped tightly the iron bars.

"You can skip the humiliation." he spat "Who the hell are you and what do you want?" "Straight to the point, eh?" the tone of his voice sent shivers across Williams spine. "Who am I is not important, but I bet you will be interested at what I can do."

"Which is?"

"I can get you out of this cell and give a safe passage back home without the ransom."

William didn't expect that. It was a generous offer, but again…

"And I imagine that you would want something in return."

"Of course"

"Money?"

"No, I want you to execute a simple task."

"What task?"

"I want you to kill the captain."

"I am not perhaps as stupid as you think boy. I know that even if I dare to touch him the rest of his crew will cut me to pieces."

"Not really." William raised his brow in question.

"What do you mean?"

"I am the second in command. If the captain dies I take over the ships leadership. If that happens you have my word that no harm will come to you and the rest of your travel will be more than pleasant."

"You've got a deal."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Three weeks had passed since that fateful night, in which Eva slept for the first time on a soft bed; Edward realized that one of the big disadvantages of the life if the pirate was the difficulty to have cold bath and most importantly Anna made the decision that would change her whole life thankfully for the last time.

So, three weeks later while the ship was only few days away from Kingston Anna found herself under deck heading towards the dungeon.

She was ready to face her husband for the last time.

What she met there however wasn't what she expected. At first she met no crewmembers on her way. It was late and most of the men were asleep, but there was always someone to keep an eye on the prisoners.

Then in front of her she saw an open cell with only one prisoner inside.

Catherine was on the floor bitten and left for dead. "Definitely my husband's work" she thought

Then she ran on the other's woman side and checked her pulse. She was alive.

Anna left the breath she was holding in relief. Catherine was perhaps a whore, but she disserved such death.

"Catherine, can you hear me. Come on, wake up."

The other woman obeyed and opened her eyes and took a shaken breath.

"What happened?" Catherine stayed silent.

"Dam woman speak. Where is William?"

Anna's harsh tone left no space for negotiations.

"That man set him free."

"What man?"

"The one with the grey eyes."

"Why?"

"So as William would be able to kill the captain."

When the mistress finished her sentence Anna was already on her feet. There was no time to lose.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Eva!"

"What is it?"

"William… he is going to kill Edward."

"But he is locked in the cell."

"Not anymore. Adam let him go. Where is Edward?"

"On the deck, it is his shift tonight. I am going to find him. You go and wake up the men. Explain them what happen and do so quickly we don't have much time."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The fresh sea air reached his nostrils the moment he reached his destination.

On his left hand he was holding tightly the gun Adam had given him.

William had seen the captain fight and he knew he had to be very careful in order to make this work.

He stood to the other side of the deck with his back turned to him. If he shot him now he would fall into the sea and he wouldn't even have to worry about the body. He took a deep breath and raised the gun. He was ready to shoot.

"Edward! No!"

Edward turned around only to see Eva running towards him with horror written all over her face.

She reached him. William pulled the trigger.

Time seemed to slow down. First of all she felt an intense pain somewhere on her chest and something warm and liquid run under her clothes.

Then she saw Bob and Jack grab William while Josh and Max did the same with Adam. She silently praised Anna for that.

At last she felt Edward's hands on her shoulders and finally she heard him call her mane again and again.

She let her knees buckle and her body fall.

She knew that he would catch her and so he did.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"If she dies I swear I'll…"

"Kill me."

"No… I promise I'll make you wish I had done so long ago."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I wish you good luck at your new life my dear. You deserve no less." Eva said with a genuine smile on her face.

"Thank you for everything. Without you nothing of these would happen."

Anna answered and hugged her careful not to heart her bandaged shoulder and chest. Then she took her daughter in her arms and stood next to her future husband.

Alexander was a not so poor merchant and also had been Anna's first and only love. Eva had kept her word or more precisely Edward did it for her.

When they had reached Kingston she was still unconscious because of the blood loss and the infected wound. Her chances of surviving were slim.

Edward was the one who searched and found Alexander, who not only hadn't forgotten his first love after all these years, but he was also more than willing to make her his wife and raise Elizabeth as his own child.

She didn't know if Edward did what he did because of his guilt of Eva's injury or because it was a way to forget his worry about her.

Well it didn't matter anyway. They were both here safe and sound and for than Anna swore to pray every day for the wellbeing of those two.

The ransom was given and William returned had returned back to England alone. Catherine had run away few days after they had reached the harbor. Not that anyone really cared.

After that everything changed for the best. That day, when they stood together at the docks of Kingston, one month later, Eva had almost fully recovered. She was also named the same night by Edward the new second in command with the consent of the whole crew.

Indeed, that day both women saw a brighter future lie ahead of them.

**Τhe longest thing i've ever written, i hope you liked it. Tell me what you thing by writting your coments (pleeeeeease).**

**Also if you want to hear the original version of Siren's song go there watch?v=g9iiK7q2RC4**


	6. Consequences part 2

"Put a stop to it while you still can." "That woman has been here for only a year and a half and has already started to get under your skin."

Adams words echoed inside his head once more. He didn't know whether it was because of the rum or because of his troubled mind that his words would never leave his head.

For a moment he wondered if that smug bastard, wherever he was, if he was looking right that moment down at him with that malicious smile he always wore when he was still alive.

And that because all along he had been right, so damn right. He was falling for that extraordinary woman fast and hard and they would both pay the price for that. The problem wasn't that the crew would react when they realized that he had gone soft for. They would understand just fine. At least most of them would.

It was the fact that if something bad happened to her he wouldn't be able to handle it and if she stayed with him that was bound to happen.

She couldn't fight as she used to, because of her deteriorating health. He would ask her again and again what was wrong with her but of course she wouldn't answer. She would only claim that she would get better.

He believed her, but he wasn't going to risk it any longer, because the next battle on that ship could be her last. He wasn't going to be the reason of her death.

No, he would put an end to it while he still could.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Someone knocked on his door.

He was expecting at first Blackbeard to step inside his room since they had agreed to come to the ship in order to settle some issues, but then he remembered that they hadn't reached the harbor yet.

He found instead Eva standing in front of his desk. Fate was definitely playing a very bad game with him.

"What do you want?' he asked more harshly that necessary, but that didn't seem to bother her.

She just folded her hands on her chest and gave him a stern look.

"The cook told me that at least ten bottles of rum have gone missing from our stock." She eyed the empty on his right hand

True he had started drinking more than ever. Liquor had become lately one of his ways to go through the day. His biggest problem was living on his ship and was sleeping every night in the room right next to his. It was a constant reminder of what he had to do. Alcohol seemed to be his only temporary solution, that would make him forge perhaps only for a couple of hours a day.

Well, he wasn't to wait any longer and prolog his agony.

"It is none of your business what I do, what I drink or how I choose to live."

"It is when your choices put in danger the life of others like your crews. You've never gotten yourself drunk in the middle of the morning before. We could be attacked at any moment and you would be in no condition to fight with more alcohol in your body than water and…" her lecture was slightly turned into scolding and she would say more had he not banged on his desk right in front of her.

"I am afraid you keep forgetting your place!" His tone was more than harsh and angry. It startled and even though she would never admit it he scared her. However, she wouldn't back down that easily.

"And where is exactly my place Edward?"

"Under me, I am the captain and the man here. You should be obeying me not the other way around."

Her palms turned into fists and her expression became one of anger. However, in the inside she was panicking. He had never talked to her like that. Could it be that she had been wrong about that man. "Not again" she thought "Please not again". Was he no better than the men from who she had escaped? Had he fooled her?

"You have no right to…" she tried to say but he stopped her again.

"I have every right. I am a captain and damn I should have acted like one long ago."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I should have never taken in a sick woman that would be to me nothing more than a dead weight."

His words had hurt her. He could see it in her eyes, which were suddenly filled with dread and tears that she was too proud to shed. She lowered her head so that she faced the floor.

"If that's so then I am sorry for being such a burden to you all those years, but don't worry you won't have to stand with my presence any longer."

And before he had the time to answer she was out of his cabin.

He left the heavy breath he was holding and fall back to his bed physically and mentally exhausted.

That was it. After that he knew that she would leave.

"Great" he thought sarcastically "Just great". The sip was only7 meters away from Havana, which meant that he had only perhaps half an hour to lay his eyes on her again before she left.

Perhaps he could spare a few seconds to for a drop of heaven before hell came, he thought and then it hit him. He couldn't see her again. He wouldn't be able to fight and laugh again with her on his side. He would never have the chance again to tease her about her not so modest clothes or even kiss her with as much passion as he possessed like that night at the tavern.

A little voice inside his head, a selfish one, was screaming and was telling him to run back to her, apologize for everything he had said and beg for her forgiveness. However, thanks to her he had stopped listening to that voice. Thanks to her he was not the selfish and senseless man he used to be. He had casted her away, because that was what he had to do.

Needles to say that he was ready to finish the third bottle at once when his cabin's door was opened again.

A part of him feared that Eva would step in enraged and ready to retaliate for every insult. Another part of him wished that this exactly would be the case.

To his utter relief or disappointment Blackbeard stepped in.

"Where the hell did you came from. We haven't reached the harbor yet." His confused expression won him a sarcastic laugh from the other pirate.

"I have a ship too, mate. I just couldn't wait for you to come to me so I came to you."

"Whatever" he was too drunk and tired to care "What was the problem you wanted my help to deal with?"

"Not so fast boy" he said and gave him the I-know-you-did-something-stupid look "First you tell me why I just saw Eva…"

He didn't have the time to finish because their conversation was interrupted by a loud banging from his door and a panicked voice from behind it.

"Captain! Captain!" Edward knew instantly who it was.

"Not now Tommy, I'm busy."

"Captain! It's important."

"Come in lad." Blackbeard said before Edward had the chance to complain.

The young boy with the blond curls and his wide green eyes burst into the room with a wild expression on his little face.

"Captain, she jumped from the ship!"

Edward didn't seem to catch up as fast as he should. All the alcohol and the fight had made him light-headed.

"So? One of the drunkards of the crew jumped from the ship. Pick him back before he drowns."

"Edward" Blackbeard said who was more sober "The kid said that **_she_** jumped from the ship."

"Ok, a woman jumped from the ship." Edward eyed him with confusion from where he sat and he just shook his head.

"Mate, out of curiosity, how many women do you have on this ship?"

"Only one"

"Good" he said and turned his attention to the body "Do you know how to count?" he asked him.

"Of course sir" said the boy with a toothy grin.

"Good, count to five"

One Two Thee Four Five

"She did what?!"

And with that Edward was running toward the upper deck with Blackbeard and Tommy right behind him.

"When did that happened?" he asked when they reached their destination.

"About five minutes ago"

"And why didn't anyone stopped her?" he yelled making the rest of the crew members to stop whatever they were doing and look at him.

"Sorry Captain" Bob said "But do you know anyone besides you who stopped the Siren from doing whatever she wanted to?"

Edward found himself unable to answer to that.

From where they stood the two men and the boy could see clearly a dark figure, which they knew that it was Eva and that was climbing over the docks of Havana.

"Out of curiosity Edward" Blackbeard said "What the devil did you do to her this time?"

She didn't even spare the Jackdaw a look. She kept walking without turning around once to face the sea. As if every memory she had from all these five years she had spent with him meant nothing.

No… actually his harsh words had made then mean nothing. They were enough to dispel the illusion of the life they both dreamed.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Her hair and clothes were still wet even after spending hours under the hot sun. Something like that would have bothered her ay any other occasion, but this time she didn't even notice the drops of salty water stick on her skin.

She just kept walking unaware of everything that was going on around her. She felt nothing. Emptiness had started to cripple into her mind and soul. It was the aftermath of her rude awakening.

So, she did the only thing she knew best. She kept walking further away from her problems, the Jackdaw and most importantly its captain.

For the second time in her life she thought that she run away from a cruel lie that fate had made just for her. She only hoped that this would be the last.

"'Ey you miss"

She turned around to face the source of the voice. It was a soldier, an English one judging from his red coat.

"Yes, sir." Can I help you?" She tried to sound as kind as possible. She wasn't that stupid. No matter how much the infamous captain plagued her mind she didn't fail to notice the glint in his eyes or his friends that were circling her the same time he was speaking to her.

"Forgive my boldness, but I couldn't help but wonder what was doing such a beautiful woman like you was alone at this time and place. Would you perhaps like to accompany me to the tavern around the corner?"

"No more taverns, please!" she thought.

"I am just wandering around and thank you for you offer, but I must refuse."

"You don't want to go to the tavern. That's fine." he said and pulled a folded paper out of his pocket.

"What about the local jail… Siren"

That moment she got a better look at the siren he was holding.

The Siren

Wanted alive

Accused of working with the pirate captain Edward Kenway

She didn't need to know more. She punched the soldier that was closer to her creating an opening. Then she run for her life. She run as fast as her legs could carry her.

Her heart was beating faster and faster and then… it stopped. Everything stopped every sound and pain faded away as blackness overtook her.


	7. Consequences part 3

Consequences part 3

She stayed there for hours, on the dirty floor of her prison. She didn't dare to move. She was afraid that if she did the sickness would come back. However, after hours it didn't, not at all.

Her own body had always been what scared her most. One moment it was strong enough to move mountains and another ready to fall apart. And so it did, in the end.

While she was running from the guards her heart stopped. She remembered it clearly; the darkness on her eyes and the dampness on her chest had lasted for seconds or even minutes after she had fallen down.

Hours after that she had woken up only to discover that she was… just fine. She felt nothing, no dizziness, no nausea. She felt absolutely nothing and that seemed like heaven to her.

It reached its peak before it faded away. That was it, for the second time her life had run its circle.

Yes, that was not the first time it had happened. The grim reaper had tried to claim her once before and he had failed. It was that day when her heart had given up on her like she had given up on life. She had been ready to die right there in the middle of the ocean.

"Nothing matters anymore, neither the head wife nor my son; I'm going to die anyway." She had thought while she was sinking deeper and deeper.

That was it until a pirate had proven her wrong.

"And five years later he proves me right." She thought bitterly. With a small touch he had given her life only to take it back with his words. She wouldn't deny it: she was alone again. Like when that bitch had ordered her to be thrown at the sea. No one had been there for her then and no one was there for her now.

She may not have been sick anymore, but she had the feeling that her ordeals were far from over.

When the soldier walked in her cell with a twisted smile on his face, that feeling became certainty.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Where did she go?"

"I don't know."

"But, you are going to bring her back, right?"

"No"

"Why?"

"Because it's better that way. The further away we are from her the safer she is."

Tommy's eyes were ready to pop out from his sockets. That was definitely not what he had expected to hear from their dear captain. He had come in this tavern searching for him, because he was sure that he would have already started the search for her and he wanted to help.

And now he says that he was the one he was the one to drive her away.

How could he?

Is it so easy for a man like him to leave behind the woman he loves?

Yes, the woman he loves. The kid knew everything, because neither was Tommy as stupid as the rest of the crew thought him to be nor was he blind.

And yet the captain was doing everything possible to prove wrong what the boy had witnessed with his own eyes.

Blackbeard's audible grunt of disappointment showed that the same excact thoughts occupied the other captain's head.

"Mate, for someone intelligent enough to have his own ship and inspire such loyalty on his crew you are really stupid. You know that?" he said with a serious tone.

"Please, elaborate. I don't get your way of thinking and that is definitely not because of the alcohol." The captain said indifferently while he poured some more rum on his cup. He knew he had passed his body's limits hours ago while he was still on the ship and still he refused slow it down any time soon. He wanted to forget and that was the only way he knew how to do it.

"I am just saying, how are you so sure that she will be better without you and that you will be better without her?" he paused for a moment and took another good look at the captain in front of him "Now that I'm thinking about it the latter is absolutely impossible. The girl is gone only for a few hours and you are already a mess!"

"What I do with that mess is none of your business and trust me when I say that she is better without…"

He didn't have the chance to finish his sentence, because they were destructed by a group of sailor that entered the tavern. They were all stumbling, singing and yelling. Needless to say that they were all drunk as hell.

In the end they sat to the table right next from them. Edward tried to finish his sentence, but the words of one of the drunken sailors made him froze.

"Did any of you saw what happened to the main square few hours ago? They say that those English boot-lickers managed to catch that pirate harlot, the Siren."

"Impossible, many better men had been after her and her boss for years and yet they haven't even managed to catch a glimpse of them."

"No, it's true. I was there and I saw them with my own eyes to drag her towards the prison, but that's not even the half of it. I'm telling you something is really messed up with this story."

"What do you mean?"

"I watched her run like the wind through the road. She would have escaped them, I'm sure, hadn't she of course dropped dead on the ground half a minute later."

"They shot her?"

"Not from what I saw. It was as if suddenly life had been swept out of her. I'm telling you something very weird is going on here."

Blackbeard turned his head in order to face his mate properly. "Are you still sure about you little theory?"

His words seemed to pull the blond out of his shock and the moment he had finished his sentence Edward was already on his feet. However, the alcohol on his blood didn't let him to take single step since he staggered and fall back to his chair.

"I have to go to her." He only managed to say in his haze.

"Yeah, I know and you have my support on that, but first we have to find a way to get the rum out of your body as soon as possible."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

His head was killing him. Whatever the doctor had given him did wonders on his drunken state, but it hadn't saved him from the hangover that had followed.

Well, he barely cared. That moment his focus was on another thing entirely.

The British general, he was the bastard that had ordered Eva's arrest and was now planning her execution and so much more.

_"__Is the bitch still not talking?"_

_"__Yes, but don't worry it won't take long for the general to break her and then we will be able to get back to our homes."_

He had killed those soldiers only minutes after that and of course he made sure that they confessed to him first everything they knew about their boss and his new prisoner. He hid the bodies and took the clothes from one of them. With his uniform it became ridiculously easy to slip into the prison. No one would stop and question another guard while he did his shift.

He only hoped that none of the prisoners would happen to be an old friend of his. If they recognized him it was certain that both he and she would not live to see another day.

He tried to recall the directions those two unlucky soldiers had given him.

"Find the main staircase that leads to the underground cells. That's where they keep her. Second cell on the left. It's were we keep the worst of the worst."

It wasn't difficult to find it. The real problem appeared when he got there.

Templar agents, five in total, stood on his way. Of course those scumbags had to be involved. There goes his plan for a silent approach.

"What now?" He thought the exact moment a female moan of pain was heard from the second cell on the left.

He saw red.

He unsheathed his two swords and moved forward. It didn't matter that they outnumbered him or that they were all almost as skill with a blade as he was.

Well, almost was the key word on this case… His fury gave him strength and speed he didn't know that he possessed. Before anyone could blink two of the men were dead on his feet and only three remained.

After a quick duel with the third only two were left. However, the burning anger inside him also made him clumsy. It was a novice's mistake really. While he raised his sword to hit one of the two he failed to notice the one that came to his left. His blade was buried into his side and the pain was enough to make his hand shake. But he didn't drop his sword; he couldn't afford a mistake lie that, not when Eva's life was on his hand. Instead he gritted his teeth and brought his sword down with all the power he could master. When the other thug, the one that had stabbed him, saw his friend fall with his chest half open he tried to run afraid for his life. However, he didn't have the chance to escape or call his other friends for backup. The bullet from Edward's gun found his heart seconds later and ended his life.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The first thing she saw, when the blindfold was removed from her eyes, was the man that only a moment ago was adding new scars on her skin chocking with his own blood.

Then her fall on Edward and unfortunately her anger towards him obscured her relief.

"Come on we have to get out of here before they realize what's going on." He said and tried to take her hand in his in order to lead her out of the door. She took a step back.

"No" she knew she was being childish. Her life was on stake there, but hell she didn't give a damn.

He look at her pleadingly "It's no time to be stubborn Eva. We have to go." His voice made it sound as if he was begging her to come with him, because he was guessing what her answer would be.

"If you are worried about your life leave, I'm not going anywhere with you." She said while she stood back on her shaking feet.

"Eva! I won't ask you again. Stop trying my patience and follow me." He said louder this time and tried to grab her.

"No, you made it quite clear that you didn't wish ne to be on your side anymore, that you didn't want a dead weight to slow you down. So, I'm doing what I was asked…"

That moment he crushed his lips on her and kissed her with everything he had. At first that made her even angrier, not a bit surprised, just even more furious. She tried to push him back, kick him or slap him, but none of these work and the more seconds passed the harder it became for her. She had no choice but to yield to his touch.

She kissed him back and it felt like heaven. It was nothing like their first kiss on the alley behind the tavern. That was a result of desires that had stayed buried into their minds for far too long. It had no love inside only lust and passion.

This one was so different, but she couldn't say how.

And of course it ended too soon when Edward pulled away.

"You are not going to run away like last time right." She joked, but there was also a hidden fear inside her words. Edward took a deep breath and gathered all courage that he had.

"Eva, listen and listen carefully. I am sorry for everything. I should have never said those things. They were all bad lies used to drive you away. I thought that it would better that way, that you would be safer away from the pirate's life and away from me. Instead I pushed you straight to the wolves den…" He stopped his speech by wrapping her hands around his waist.

"Edward, after all these I swear taht if you do to me again something like that again, I'll cut you to pieces." Her voice was threatening, but her smile showed that she was only kidding.

"Does that mean that you are coming back with us?"

"Yes"

"Thank god, now let's leave before I bleed out." At first she didn't realize what he meant, but then she saw the gash on his side that was bleeding heavily.

"That's going to be a problem." She thought

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"How the hell did that bastard manage a hit like that?" She said while she stitched the wound. When they had reached the ship Edward had immediately ordered the crew to set sail, so as to get as far as possibly away from the city.

Few minutes later they had found themselves in Edward's cabin and Eva had immediately laid him on his bed and starting tending his wound. For half an hour he had been trying to convince her to see the doctor for her own injuries that the bastard had inflicted on her. She kept insisting that they were just scratches so he had soon given up.

"The idiot was lucky and I had been destructed."

"You are never destructed during a battle."

"My anger had taken the best of me."

"Anger?"

"I heard you…" he didn't need to say more, she understood what he meant "I guess that the thought of someone hurting you made me lose every ounce of self-control that I had left."

He raised his hand and cupped her cheek while she leaned into his touch.

"Eva, I…" he didn't have any courage left to finish his sentence, but of course he didn't have to.

"I know Edward, I do too."


	8. scars

Scars

One of the few things that Edward hated about the Caribbean was the unbearable heat. Every day the sun rays would hit the mortals below them without mercy and in comparison with the wet streets of England the deck of the Jackdaw would often become hotter than hell.

He absolutely despised the feeling of hairs and clothes sticking on his skin because of the sweat or the feeling of being light headed after spending too many hours under the hot sun.

The worst part was most times there would always be some tiring chore that had to be done during hot days like this.

And this was one of those days.

The Jackdaw and her crew had just taken over a fort that was located on remote island miles away from any city.

The best part of the whole situation was that the fort was filled with things like food, medicine, wood and iron which they desperately needed. The worst was that they had to move all these from the storage, through the beach with the scorching sand and in the end to their ship.

It was a tedious work that took hours and the heat didn't make it any easier.

However he had to admit that seeing Eva without a shirt for the first time was quite a plus to the whole ordeal. Not being able to handle the heat every crewmember, including her, had gotten rid of the additional clothing that was laid on the sand. So, she was working while she wore only her trousers and breast binding.

One hour after they had started moving the things Edward had already finished his task to move half a dozen of filled crates from the fort's master's quarters to the shore from where they would be taken on the ship by Jack and John.

The thought of letting the others do the rest crossed his mind, but he dismissed it as quickly as it came. He had served once a cruel and lazy captain and he knew first hand that ordering anyone else to do your job was not really appreciated by the rest of the sailors.

Needless to say that this captain hadn't lived for long.

So, he headed towards the edge of the end of the beach where the sand was slowly replaced by more solid ground on top of which started the vast jungle.

That was where Eva stood with some boxes of her own that she had move from the fort;s storage.

She didn't hear him when he move closer to her, she thought that she was alone n the beach, so when she bent to pick one of the boxes she didn't make sure to keep her long ebony hair in place. As a result her black curls slipped over her shoulders and revealed her back to him.

As a pirate he had come across many gruesome sights, but what he saw that day really made his stomach twist.

She probably heard his sharp intake of breath, because the next moment she was back on her feet with her eyes locked in his.

Her face carried a hunted expression of mixed emotions. Her eyes betrayed anticipation and uneasiness, but also fear and a hint of panic. For a moment she reminded him of a wild animal that had been caught by its hunter.

She knew he had seen them.

"Turn around" He said calmly, but the tone of his voice made it sound more like an order. It was an order anyway, so she obeyed and slowly turned her back to him. He moved closer so he was right behind her.

As slowly as he could he raised his hand and pulled her hair over her right shoulder.

Never before had he touched her so gently, with so much care, but that didn't stop her body from going stiff. Because she knew the reason behind all these.

"How did you get those?"

"Leather whip with seven stripes, thirty times, you do the math." Her voice was cold almost indifferent, but he knew better. He saw her hand, they were shaking.

"When?"

"About a year before we met. Four years we've been living on the same ship and you just noticed them now?" She said sarcastically.

"You did a very good job at hiding them." He snapped.

Of course, how did he not see it before? Every time she wore something that left her shoulders bare her long hair would always be left loose in order to cover her entire back. Her purpose was not to preserve her decency, but to cover those.

"Obviously not good enough"

He grasped her forearm and turned her around so as he could see her face.

Her eyes showed cold fear, his only burning anger.

"Which son of a bitch did them?"

"**Son** of a beach" she gave a forced laugh "Do you remember what I told you when you claimed that a woman had no place in the fight of a pirate? At love and war and war women can be more brutal than men."

"What do you mean?"

"A woman did these to me Edward and when I meet her again I'm planning to do to her exactly what she did to me."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That specific memory along with the questions that came with it plagued his mind for the first exactly one year later.

That night she was lying fast asleep next to him when she had unconsciously turned her back to him unaware of the fact that he still laid wide awake on the other side of the bed.

The white sheet that covered both of them had slipped from her shoulder to the carve of her hips and this time there was no breast binding to cover a part of the damage.

Under the faint light of the candles and the one of the moon that came through the open window of his cabin all the scars that were spread along her back seemed almost inhuman.

He could only see the long pink and white lines that would mark her for the rest of her life.

He lifted his hand and traced them with his fingers.

Of course they didn't take not even a small part of her beauty. Through his eyes and the eyes of many others she was one of the most beautiful, but still the question remained.

Were those a reminder of her pained past or a badge of honor? Perhaps, they were her proof that she had survived things that would break any other, but what were those things exactly?

Those questions infuriated and saddened him.

"They belong to the past Edward along with the pain that clmes with them. Let it go."

Her voice broke the silence. Now awake she turned to face him. He frowned.

"I'm not leaving anything behind, not until I kill the one who did them."

"She will pay; you have my word, isn't that enough for you?"

"Who is she?" He knew what kind of answer she would give him, but he had to ask nonetheless.

"Someone you can't reach. For now there is no reason to chase ghost my love."

"Ghosts?! As long as I am concerned those marks on your back are very much real and for now so must be the one who did them."

She looked down and stayed silent unsure of what to say. So, he took her hand and spoke again.

"It angers me to no end that the person who hurt you like this is still walking alive in this world, but it's not only that. I know nothing of your life before you ended up on this ship. It's unheard of a pirate to ask someone's trust, but with you it's different. After all these that have happened between us why don't you trust me enough to share your past with me?"

She looked him in the eyes again and gave him one of her sweetest and saddest smiles.

Damn how this woman made him feel.

"The reason I stay silent is because there is nothing to tell. My life started with you."

"I understand that. Don't forget that my real life started when I became a pirate, but you know everything about what happened to me before that. Don't I deserve to know the same? Trust me I only want t share your burden and ease the pain that hasn't yet passed."

She gave a sigh of defeat.

"You are right I will tell you everything, but not now. We are both tired and it's a long story."

He leaned over and kissed her lips softly.

"I will wait."


	9. Welcome on board

Welcome on board

Edward looked again at the woman… no the girl that was sitting in front of him.

Her hands were unconsciously wrapped around her body and her breathing was uneven, as if getting air into her lungs was something difficult for her. Considering that only hours ago she wasn't breathing at all, this was very possible to be true.

It still seemed strange to him that the girl was right there alive, while he had been sure that he had dragged her corpse on the deck of his ship.

Everyone thought she was dead and everyone was shocked to see her open her eyes and speak.

He had to admit that she was easy on the eye. She had pale skin, ebony hair that reached her waist and even though she refused to look at him he remembered from their first encounter that her eyes shared the same deep shade of blue with the see on which his ship sailed.

Her skin betrayed that not even once was she put to work on a field under the hot sun like a peasant. Her shiny hair showed that she was healthy and that she had been given a treatment for every illness that had plagued her in the past. Her hands were perfect with no scars and he was sure that if he could touch the skin that covered them, he would find out that it was as soft as one of a newborn.

At first glance everyone could have thought that she was the offspring of a rich family and perhaps that noble blood was running in her veins, but he knew better.

It was the way that carried herself, the way she had walked into his cabin, that was what gave away the real story. Her steps had been small, her head constantly bowed and her eyes never once had they left the floor.

Why did this girl that had been looked after like a princess, behaved as if she was a slave?

That was the first question that had found its way into his mind the moment she had walked in.

However, this little one had still spirit. He could see it in her. She looked small but not fragile and surprisingly completely indifferent to the situation that she had gotten herself into.

"Do you speak English lass?" he finally asked after a long silence.

"Yes, I do."

That was a relief, because until then he had only heard her utter words that belonged to a language completely unknown to him and to everyone else on this ship.

"What's your name then?"

She didn't answer immediately. For a few second she sat silent in deep thought. He thought that she was considering whether it would wise to share such information with a pirate or not. He was wrong, but he would realize that much later.

"Eva" she said finally "My name is Eva."

"How did you end up here?"

She didn't answer. She only bowed her head even further until her chin toughed her chest.

She wasn't scared only unwilling to say, but he didn't know that.

He left a small sigh and sat on the chair in front of her. He made sure to keep his hands where she could see them.

"Look girl, I am not your enemy. You have to admit that finding a woman in the middle of the ocean isn't something that happens every day or to every pirate. I only want answers."

That was partially true. That woman intrigued him to no end. He wanted to know what she was hiding, but for that he needed time and her trust. He had neither

She didn't speak for a long time. When he was sure, however, there was no hope left that she would talk she proved him wrong by rising her head and looking him straight in the eyes.

"Am I your prisoner?"

"Well…"

"Answer with yes or no. I would really appreciate if I got an honest answer to that question."

"No, you are not my prisoner. We reach land in four days. No one is going to stop you from leaving after that."

She never broke her stare.

"Then sir" she said with an even voice "Do me a favor and kill me now."

Her answer surprised him but he decided not to show it.

"You know, you are the first one to set a foot here and ask that."

"The reason for that is because I prefer a quick death than a prolonged and agonizing one on the streets of the city that happens to be this ship's next destination."

"So, in other words you have nowhere else to go and no family to help you survive here."

"Exactly"

His eyes stayed locked on her form, but they also betrayed that he wasn't actually looking at her. His slight frown and the way his mouth was set on a thin line showed that he was deep in thought.

"Tell me Eva, do you know how to use a sword?"

"Yes, I do. Where I come from no one can survive a day without skills such as this."

"And where is that exactly?"

The girl didn't trust him, of that he was sure and he knew he shouldn't have asked, because it was certain that he wouldn't receive an answer. Nevertheless, his curiosity took over his logic once again and the words left his mouth before he could stop them.

She didn't answer of course, but at least this time her eyes didn't return to the floor even for a second. That was a good sign.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter… for now"

He got up and headed to his desk.

Her eyes followed closely his every move.

"I have a proposition to make." He needed time and her trust. This was the only way to win time and he would make sure that her trust would come later

He opened a drawer and pulled out a piece of paper.

"What kind of proposition?" she asked.

"A contract" he answered and gave her that sly smile which she would later learn to hate and love.

**Historical fact: Every pirate captain had his own code, which his crew was obliged to follow. This code was written on paper and thus the pirate's contract was created. Many pirates gave their prisoners a choice: They could either sign the contact and consequently become part of the crew or they could refuse and become the pirate's slaves (in the best case) and be sold at the next harbor the ship came across.**


	10. The wait

The wait

"Stupid, stubborn woman, what the devil she was thinking… was she thinking at all?"

Those were the questions he had been repeating again and again in his head for hours.

What kind of idiot would take a bullet to save someone else's life, his life above all? He was a bloody pirate, for God's sake! His life meant nothing and still he was the one safe and alive while she was fighting with death in the next room.

He had never in his whole life imagined that someone would ever be willing to endanger his life in order to save his. Not even his crew and definitely not Caroline either. So why would she?

No one could ever be that stupid. He had been so sure.

Well…

Once again she had managed to prove him wrong, but at what price.

"The bullet barely missed her lung, but the wound no matter my efforts has been infected." Jack, the doctor, had said "We may be only days away from Kingston, but every moment counts. The only thing you can do now Captain is to pray that she will be still alive when we reach land."

At first he had been furious. He had suddenly been consumed by anger alike any other. And all this fury was directed towards one person only.

Adam

That bastard was responsible for everything. However, he hadn't killed him yet. Instead he had him locked up in the darkest cell of this ship.

No, a quick death was too good for someone like him. Edward had wanted him to suffer first.

But the anger didn't last long, because another thought entered his mind soon after.

Why did it matter how he killed him? Nothing would bring her back if she died.

And that was so close to happening because of him.

He was the only one who could have seen the betrayal and she took the bullet because he didn't.

So, he was left alone in his room with his guilts as his only company.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Starving yourself to death is not going to help her you know."

He took his hands from in front of his face and saw Anna standing right in front of him. How had she come there without him hearing her? Had he really been so engrossed in his thoughts that he hadn't heard her coming?

Nice assassin he was, he thought sarcastically.

At first he didn't understand the meaning behind her words, but then his eyes fell on the full plate that was placed on his desk. The truth was that he hadn't eaten anything all day and still he couldn't find the will to do so.

"Nothing I've ever done has helped her so far, so I think I am going to stop trying."

"From what I've heard that's not entirely true."

The look she gave him that moment reminded him of a mother that was scolding her five-year-old son. He didn't know whether he should be insulted or impressed. The woman had been with them only for a few weeks and this time was enough for her to change from a scared housewife to a strong woman with a fire in her that matched the one in the Siren.

That was actually the only thing that stopped him from yelling at her to get the hell out of his cabin.

"And have you heard exactly?" he asked finally.

"Tommy described me with remarkable details how you first met her."

"Don't listen a word that comes out of that kid's mouth. Tommy has a tendency to mix reality with his fantasies. He even believes that Eva is a real Siren."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she was." He wouldn't be either, he thought, that woman was unlike any other. "But that's not my point. Tommy said that she was dead when you laid her on the ship's deck and that you were the one to bring her back."

"I only touched her neck to check for a pulse and she miraculously started breathing again. I did nothing."

"But what if you really did something back then? What if you do that again now? Perhaps you are the only one she needs to stay alive."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The smell of death reached him the moment he opened the door.

Blood and infected tissue

Only the dead carried that scent along with the ones that were about to join them.

It was midnight and only the one candle on the nightstand was lit.

The darkness calmed his nerves a bit, but still he didn't have the guts to walk towards her bed. He wasn't ready to face her just yet.

For few minutes he stood there. Those minutes had been the longest in his life.

Finally his wish to see her overcame his fear and guilts and he moved to sit by her side on the bed.

There she lay unconscious with a blooded bandage around her shoulder. The bullet was going for his heart so it had hit her there, right above her lung.

The first thing he noticed was how pale she looked, like a ghost. Her eyes were closed tightly and that betrayed the pain she felt. However, she would not move or moan. She had no more strength to do so.

Edward took a deep breath raised his hand to her forehead. She was burning, her fever had risen up.

He immediately grasped the wet rag from the filled bucket on the nightstand and placed gently on her head. She didn't react.

That night tuned out to be a difficult one like the others that followed.


	11. The big finale part 1

**A/N: My dear readers this is the chapter in which every secret will be revealed. Please don't forget to comment and tell me what you think about the story.**

The big finale part 1: The story of another girl

"Did he mention why he wanted to see us so urgently." Eva asked as she and Edward walked across the streets of Nassau, the pirate paradise.

"No, he only said that it was important. From the tone of his letter I can tell that we are in serious trouble."

"Just great! And only a week before yesterday had I hoped that we could have taken some time off."

She walked closer to him and he instinctively put his arm around her shoulders.

"You know…" she whispered in his ear "…I really wished to spend together a few days on the beach of a remote island, just you and me."

He chuckled and tightened his hold on her.

"Sounds like heaven love. I promise you the moment we are done with this we are heading straight to a deserted island."

"Good" she said and came to a halt "Looks like we are here."

In front of them stood a small wooden house, it looked more like a hut actually.

"Perfect for a meeting between some of the most infamous pirates of the whole Caribbean." He thought.

No one would suspect what was really going on in there.

The inside was as impressive as the outside. The only furniture that occupied the small room was an almost rotten table and the old chairs that were scattered around it. On them sat Blackbeard, Jack Rackham and Benjamin Hornigold.

Edward eyed all of them carefully the moment he walked in. He perhaps trusted Blackbeard… a little, but not anyone else. And, damn, he wished he wouldn't have to in the future.

Eva saw the look on his face so she spoke first.

"Mr. Thatch, I have to admit that your message worried me dearly. You calling all of us here could only mean that the end of the world was near… or something close to that."

Blackbeard didn't seem at all surprised by her initiative. On the contrary he looked amused.

"My so dear Siren, it's always a pleasure to have you among us." Long before that day she had noticed that only to her did he speak like that, in a way that betrayed his wealthy upbringing and she wondered why.

The nickname he used to address her quickly caught the attention of the other men in the dark room.

"So you are the infamous Siren." Rackham said while he eyed her from head to toe. "I see you rise up to your title." He got up, took her hand and kissed it softly. "Only a real Siren would dare to claim a beauty such as yours"

"Watch it Jack, we didn't gave her that name because of her beauty but because of the number of my men that have brutally lost their manhood from the moment she set foot on my ship." Edward said harshly.

He of course hadn't missed the hungry look the other pirate was giving her. So he also wrapped his right hand around her waist where everyone could see it.

The message was clear: Eva was his and no one else's.

"Relax mate" Hornigold said a moment later "I doubt that old Rackham here would try to steal your woman. His hands are already full with the two ladies that live on his ship."

"Two?" Edward asked with faked surprise. "And you, Thatch, had been criticizing me for years, because I had only one." He asked while he pretended to be offended.

Blackbeard of course wouldn't lose the chance to make one of his dry comments.

"And that, Edward, is because your woman can cause as much trouble as ten others."

"True"

"Are you two done?" Eva asked slightly annoyed "Because if I am not mistaken you, Mr. Thatch, called us here for a reason."

"Right" Blackbeard said and cleared his throat "I came across some rumors that were as strange as alarming."

"What do you mean by strange?" Benjamin asked.

"Well, it seems that the elite forces of the Ottoman army have come here, in the Caribbean."

"You are joking."

"I'm afraid not. When I was first told that I didn't believe it either, but then I came face to face with some of them here on Nassau.

"Do you know what kind of business they have here? It's not their style to travel half along the earth to deal with matters of little importance." Eva asked with a calm voice. Too calm for Edward's liking… and how the devil did she know about the Ottoman's "style".

Something was wrong.

"They are looking for something and they believe that we have it."

"We?"

"The pirates of the new world"

"Whatever it is we are not giving it." Rackham said and every other man in the room nodded in agreement.

"How do you know it's the Ottomans?" Eva got to ask first again.

"As I said I found some of them interrogating the people here. I waited for one of them to get separated from their little group and ordered my men to take care of him."

He stopped talking for a moment and put off his picket a small circular incurved pin.

"That's what I found on him. I did some research about the carvings. That's the Turkish symbolism for…"

"Aslan… the lion" Eva said and her voice almost broke at the last word. The tremble of her voice was so small that only Edward heard it.

However, she continued.

"Only members of the personal guard of the Sultan himself have the right to carry in public something like that."

"And for a good reason. Those men fight like beasts. That one alone killed two of me men." Blackbeard said angrily.

"We must find what they are after and then cut them to pieces." Hornigold said.

"I say we first cut them to pieces." Rackham said "What's the plan?"

Engrossed in their discussion the three pirates didn't notice that Edward had dragged Eva at the back of the hut with his hand around her shoulders and his lips on her ear.

"What's wrong?" he whispered.

She didn't answer.

"Eva, damn it, don't hide more things from me. You know why those men are here, don't you?"

She looked at him and for the first he saw written on her face an emotion he hadn't seen before.

Pure fear

"I'll be at the Jackdaw. Learn all you can from them." She said and turned her head towards the direction of the other three pirates "Then meet me there."

She moved towards the door, but stopped the moment her hand reached the wood and turned around to face him.

"Tonight I will tell you everything, I promise."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I'll tell you everything."

What did she mean by that?

Was she talking about those men that were after them?

Or perhaps about what they were looking for?

The possibilities run through his head when it hit him the moment he reached his cabin.

She meant everything about her past.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When he entered he found her sitting on his bed.

"I'm hearing." He said and tried to look as calm as possible, but his voice betrayed his worry.

Any other day he would be even excited with the thought that he would finally learn about the real woman that sat in front of him, but that moment the only thing he felt was dread for the things he was about to uncover.

Something was really wrong, he could feel it. He knew that he wouldn't like whatever she chose to share with him.

"Sit, as I said that night it's a long story."

She motioned him to sit on the chair that was placed not far away from the bed. Instead he chose to sit on the bed, right next to her. He took her hand and hold it tight. It was only a futile try to give her strength.

She smiled, but the feeling didn't reach her eyes.

"This story is about another girl, a ghost from the past and even though she is long gone she unfortunately has not been forgotten yet. Her name was Firuze, or at least that was the name her father gave her. The name of a slave. She was born at a small city near Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Her father had been born there too, but not her mother. She was from Russia."

"Firuze had the same eyes with her mother, didn't she?" Edward said and his free hands touched her face.

"Yes, blue like the see during a storm. Beautiful they were." She said, but her voice was suddenly filled with malice. "Those were what destroyed her at first and then her daughter."

"What do you mean?"

"Beauty at many lands can be more like a curse that a blessing. How do you think that she ended up at the Middle East Edward? Through slave traders of course. Then she became one of the two hundred concubines of the Sultan."

He didn't speak.

"In the end she got too old and sick for his liking, so she was sold to Firuze's father. However, giving away your concubine is unheard of, so in order to maintain his pride the Sultan made a deal with her father. A wife in exchange of a slave. Her father was asked to give him one of the female children he would have with the Russian beauty."

"And he agreed?"

"Why wouldn't he? At those countries it is considered a great shame for a man to have many daughters or worse no male heirs."

"That's monstrous!"

" Oh, it's getting even better. When they sold him her mother they 'accidentally' forgot to tell him that she was sick."

Edward didn't have to ask at what kind of illness she was referring to. It was the same one that almost took her from him all these months ago.

"Unfortunately, at her case dizziness and nausea weren't the only symptoms. At first she had Firuze, but then every other child of hers would die before it even had the chance to be born. Five years later she died during her fourth miscarriage. Considering what I told you before about the norms there, I think that Firuze's father had been very reviled when the Sultan's servants came to claim his payment."

"So, he gave away his own flesh and blood, just like that."

"Just like that, she was fifteen when she ended up at the harem. There they told her that if she was obedient with her head bowed and her mouth shut like a good slave then she would be just fine and she, naïve as she was, she believed them. She thought that she would simply disappear like many other girls that lived there, which were nothing more than shadows through the noble's eyes."

"What happened?" Edward asked even though he could already guess the answer.

"Firuze was considered as one of the most beautiful. It didn't take long to catch the Sultan's attention… She gave birth to her son a year later. He happened to be the Sultan's first born son and the reason Firuze rose above every other girl in that hellhole. She was given immediately the title of Sultana. That was when her arrogance blinded her. She thought that she was the most powerful woman of the empire and didn't saw the danger before it was too late."

Eva paused and took a deep breath in order for her hands to stop shaking. She had known that it wouldn't be easy sharing this story with him, but the pain that it brought was almost too much for her.

"There was another one like her. She had a daughter and a son that was only two months younger than hers. That small age difference was enough to determine who would rule the empire when their father died. She was as blinded as Firuze, but she was also filled with greed and anger. She wanted to win a race among the two slaves and her son to take the throne no matter what."

"So, she killed the boy that got in her way."

"Yes, you have no idea how she felt when she found her little boy dead in his crib with a knife embed in his chest. It was as if a cloud was lifted from her head the one that stopped her from seeing things as they really were. She realized how she had been fooled to think that a title would give her freedom and power, while in the end it took from her what was the most important. The pain of that reality was unbearable, so Firuze died that day along with her son.

"Perhaps she was still breathing and her heart was still beating, but there was no soul left in her body. She wouldn't eat or speak and that was when the sickness first hit her. It didn't take long for them to link the illness with the one her mother had. So, they send her away to spend the rest of her life as a servant of an old palace. That day the new head wife found the perfect chance to complete her revenge.

"She took the poor girl and tortured her for crimes she didn't know she had committed. She left her to die at the dungeons."

"But she survived."

"Yes and she found that this was her best chance to escape. The idiots didn't even bother to lock the door at her cell after that. She had been on the run for six months. During these months she tasted real freedom for the first time and her and that made her stronger. She learned how to survive and most importantly how to fight, but it wasn't enough because they found her again, while she was on a ship that was traveling to the new world, only hours away from Havana.

"No concubine before her had managed to escape slavery and live to see the end of her story. Why should she be an exception? If she had actually made it the shame that would have befallen on the royal family would be unbearable. So she killed her once again by ordering her men to throw her off the ship, in which she had been found.

"That is how Firuze was erased from history and Eva came to this world."


	12. The big finale part 2

The big finale part 2: Alliances made along with promises

"Why aren't you staying at the captain's room tonight?" Tommy asked while a small frown adorned his face and his hands were crossed in front of his chest. It was one of those moments that he looked more than a young adult than a teenage boy.

"Damn" Eva thought. She probably should start calling him Thomas soon instead of Tommy. He had grown up and had changed so much since the first time she had seen him.

"Did you fight?" he tried to press the subject.

"No, Tommy we didn't fight. It's just that the captain has a lot to think tonight and it's better to do that alone."

"But, you could help him with every problem that's bothering him."

"Not when I am the problem and why are you so repulsive to the idea of me sleeping to my bed? When you were younger you didn't mind at all when we shared the same room."

"Exactly Eva, when I was younger. Now I am sixteen years old. Nightmares don't scare me anymore and what do you mean by saying that you are the problem?"

"Fourteen Tommy, you are fourteen. You didn't seriously believe that I haven't known all along the fact that you have been hiding two years."

"Don't change the subject. Why are you the reason the captain had a lot to think about?"

She left a small sigh and sat on her bed, her old bed. For almost a year she had been spending her nights at Edward's room, so Tommy had declared her cabin as his.

She hopped that the boy hadn't gotten used to the idea of having his own bedroom, because a little mean voice inside her head kept telling her that she wouldn't share a night with her lover again and she had started to believe it.

She never wanted to share those things with him, but the whole situation hadn't leaved her any other choice. Had it been up to her Edward would have never found out about her past.

Or would he? She had promised to tell him anyway everything before the lion's appearance in the scene.

Still the questions remained.

"What would he think of me now?"

"Will he be upset, angry or even disgust?"

"With them or with me?"

And those questions were only a small part of her problems. The fact that the lions were here meant that she was as good as dead. By staying here she also put everyone else's life in danger.

She looked at Tommy and then her thought lead her to a mental picture of the rest of the crew. She would never forgive herself if something happened to them because of this whole former master wanted her dead and those men, his men, would do anything to fulfill his wish. It was up to Edward now. He could either send her away or keep her and fight for her.

She started fixing the boys messed hair with her right hand.

"It's nothing you should worry yourself with little one." She said finally.

"I am not little anymore." He protested.

"You are to me. Now help me clean the bed, because this is where we are both sleeping tonight."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She hadn't said a word after she was done with her story. She just got up and walked out of his room.

He didn't stop her and he didn't want to either.

They both knew that he would need some time alone so as to comprehend everything she had told him.

He had been stack at the same spot she had left him for what seemed like hours. At first sock and raw anger had stopped him from thinking properly. However, things became much clearer when those feeling embed away and were replaces by pure determination.

After that it was easy to make his choice.

He quickly got up, put on his boots, took is weapons and headed out of his cabin. When he reached the tavern the sun has already set and the only color that covered the sky was the indigo of the twilight.

He used that to his advantage. No one saw him get inside and no one would later see him get out the building.

It was easy to find Blackbeard. He only had to look for the table with the most room and the most whores. When he made eye contact with him Edward told him with a move of his head to meet him at one of the empty room upstairs.

Edward got there first.

Thatch entered only a minute later.

"I never like it when you are being so secretive. It always means that you are in serious trouble."

"You never miss anything, do you?"

"I am afraid so. Now out with it. What's going on?"

"I know what the lions want."

"So you figured it out. And why not call the others here so as to hear that as well?"

"Because Thatch, no matter how stupid that may sound, you are the only man in this country that I can trust" He paused and looked around the room as if to make sure that they were really alone. "I have to make sure that every word we say won't reach anyone else's ears." Edward's tone didn't leave any more doubts. Something was really wrong.

"I see." He said with an even more serious voice.

The blond let out a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding and let the words leave his mouth.

"It's Eva. They want to take the Siren from us."

Blackbeard at first looked confused.

"Why? For the bounty? She is a good pirate, but I don't think that her head worths more than mine or yours."

Edward eyed the two chairs that stood next to them.

"You'd better sit. It's a long story and not a nice one. Trust me."

Against his better judgment he told the other pirate everything that Eva had decided to share with him only hours ago. It took a while and when he was done Edward had the privilege t be the only man who ever saw the great Blackbeard at the state of utter sock. Had the situation been any different he would have laughed (a lot) with the other captain's expression.

"That's…"

"Unexpected"

"Yes, quite. What are you going to do mate? Protect your woman or your own neck?"

"I think you already know the answer and that's why I am here. Only when I am dead will I let those bastards raise a hand on her. However, I don't know anything about them and how or if I can defeat them in a battle. I need your help."

Blackbeard at first seemed skeptical but a moment later his posture relaxed and he left a deep chuckle.

"What the hell! That woman is the best thing that has ever happened to us. I'm not going to let those Turkish bootlickers to take our biggest treasure. I am in at whatever it is you are planning mate."

Two hours before midnight Tommy was awoken by a hand that was gently shaking his shoulder. When he opened his eyes he wasn't a bit surprised to come face to face with the captain.

"Thomas listen and listen carefully." Edward said in a low whisper that was however as serious as commanding. "You are going to get up now as quietly as you can and you are going to spend the rest of the night at my room. Am I clear?"

"Crystal sir" the boy said and followed his orders by the letter. Few seconds later he was out of sight.

Slowly Edward put of his boots, armor and robes and crawled into the bed.

"What are you doing?" Eva asked surprised as she turned around to face him.

The only thing he could think that moment was "Damn".

In the end he gave her his infamous smirk.

"I was trying to get to sleep without waking you up, but I am afraid that I have failed miserably."

He sounded so casual that for a moment Eva considered the possibility that every word which had been exchanged between them since that morning had been only a bad dream. A long minute had passed before she spoke.

"Don't worry I wasn't asleep at the first place. What I meant was why have you come here?"

"I knew you wouldn't come to my bed tonight so I came to yours."

He lay next to her and started caressing her hair with his free hand.

"My beautiful Siren, did you really think that I would be able to spend a single night without you on my side like every other time?"

"What does that mean?" She knew that the despair was evident in her voice and she didn't care. She wanted… no needed to hear the words he was about to say.

"I t means that you are staying here no matter what. Here on my side like you've always been even when I didn't know it myself. Because tonight I give you my word, the promise of a pirate with a new-found honor, that as long as I breath they won't take you from us, that she will pay for everything and so will the rest of them."

The moment he was done with that small speech of his he found her hands wrapped tightly around his body. He hugged her back when he felt something wet his neck.

"I thought that I had no more tears to shed, that I had wasted them all while I mourned for my son's death, but those are tears of joy and utter relief. I just want you. Nothing else." She said between soft sobs.

"And you have me. The revenge is just a bonus of our relationship, because I swear to God we are going to make those bastards regret the moment they set foot on our grounds."

She let a small laugh while she turned her head to face him and he knew that his job was done for tonight.

She was ok and so was he… for now.


	13. Edward you are an idiot

Edward you are an idiot

"You are not going to believe where I saw your girl little girl last night."

The moment Blackbeard had sat in front of him with a chesire grin on his face Edward knew that he wouldn't like whatever he was about to tell him. It would probably be one of his sick jokes he was sure.

"Try me." He said more loudly so as the other captain to hear him inside the filled bar. "Where did you see my little girl last night?"

Needles to say that he knew very well who that little girl was. It had always been a mystery whether Thatch liked or despised the Siren. Whenever they met he wouldn't miss the chance to make a negative comment about her and the next moment he would never miss the chance to compliment her.

"I'll give you a clue and then you can guess."

Edward raised his brow in question.

"Seriously mate?"

"Yes, well where you do spend most of your time?"

"On the Jackdaw"

"I mean when you've reached harbor."

"At an inn"

"We both know that you don't. You always spent your nights at a brothel. Or at least that's what you did until you met that personal whore of yours."

"Thatch" Edward said with a threatening tone "You'd better watch what you say about her."

"If I should be careful of what I say about her then she'd better watch out where she spends her nights."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I saw her myself last night at one of the most famous brothels of Havana. She was talking with the madam there as if they were best friends. Most likely she was arranging her next job."

"Eva is a lot of things, but she is not a whore." Edward said with an edge on his voice. He had started to get irritated with the other's pirates insistence. "You probably confused her with someone else."

"If you don't believe me come with me at the brothel tonight. I bet ten gold coins that we will find her there."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Why the devil did he agree on that at the first place?

Right, because Blackbeard's accusations had made him doubt everything he had assumed about her till now.

Eva was indeed a mystery.

A mystery he had always wanted to solve.

But no, there was no way that it was her the woman Thatch had seen there the previous night.

He would win this bet and then Blackbeard would never hear the end of it.

However, he still wished that the night would progress a little faster. They had been sitting on a dark corner of this not so small building for hours and the strong perfume that the women wore and the bright red color of the fabric that decorated the walls had started to give him a headache.

For the first time in his life had he wanted so badly to get out of a brothel.

He would have laughed at the thought had not his attention been drawn by his mate.

"There she is, looks like you owe me ten, mate."

He would have answered to the smart comment, but he was too shocked to do so.

It was really her.

She wore a long green dress with white sleeves and golden patterns, which he hadn't seen on her ever before.

A green scarf covered almost her whole face leaving only her deep blue eyes in common view.

But he knew it was her. No other woman in the whole Caribbean moved around like that. With her head held high and with a stance that betrayed her strength. Because she was a strong woman and she knew it.

For a moment he couldn't help but notice the extraordinary difference between the woman to whom he offered a place at his ship three years prior and the woman that stood a few feet away from him.

She reached the middle the middle of the room, where another woman stood. She was older that most girls here and definitely the most beautiful.

"She is probably the madam." He thought while he was making sure to stay hidden behind the shadows.

They talked only for a few minutes in hushed tones. Then the other woman gave Eva a black pouch. From where he stood he could see that it was full with God knows what.

"Probably her payment for her last night's services." Blackbeard said, but Edward was out of the building before the other pirate could finish his sentence.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"See, I told you so."

Edward stopped walking when they reached his cabin. He stood still and took a couple of deep breaths. During their way until the ship he had wasted all his self control in his try to not to punch the other man in the face.

And that hadn't been easy.

"What are you trying to prove exactly?"

"Her superior attitude, as a result of the confidence you've given her, had started to get on my nerves. I wanted to saw you that the woman that has you wrapped around her little finger doesn't differ from every other whore you've bedded."

Edward gave him a sinister look.

"First of all, I didn't give her that confidence, her success as a pirate did. Second of all I've never slept with her… at least for as far as I remember I don't think I have"

Blackbeard looked at him with question.

"What?" he asked annoyed.

"Seriously, three years now and you've never slept with her?"

"Yes"

He kept staring at the blond for another second and then he starts laughing."

"Kenway, you are the biggest idiot I've ever…" He didn't finish his sentence, because that moment something behind Edward caught his attention.

"Isn't that the pouch the madam gave to your girl?" He asked while he pointed at something behind the other captain. The latter was sure that nothing was on his desk when he had last left the room.

Edward turned around and saw the small pouch on his desk.

"Yes it is."

The both walked closer to the desk and Blackbeard was the first to make a move after that. He took the pouch and went to open it.

"What are you doing?" Edward asked alarmed.

"Come on mate. Aren't you curious about how much she was paid for the job?"

Edward sighed in defeat. "Fine, open it."

The other one lost no time. He undid the leather strips and tuned the pouch upside down. However, instead of golden and silver coins pieces of jewelry fell on the wooden surface of Edward's desk. Earrings, necklaces and bracelets of different shapes and with gemstones of different colors were laid in front of them. All of them worthed hundreds of golden coins.

But most importantly Edward recognized all of them.

"Ok, that's interesting. No whore is getting paid that much during a single night."

"This is no payment" The blond said " At least it is not a payment meant for her."

"What do you mean?"

"You can't pay someone with something he already has. Those jewels were Eva's share from a couple of Spanish ships we caught a few months ago. Since she was the only lade here we gave her the jewelry while we took all the gold and rum."

Then something else caught Edward's attention.

A golden necklace with three rubies in the middle, each one even redder that the other. Among the other trinkets that was the one that stood out the most, because it was the most expensive and of course the most beautiful.

Edward remembered clearly that this piece of art hadn't been part of her share and that was because that necklace used to be his long before the Spanish ships.

He had given it to her as a reward, a present.

Why was it there?

"What is that over there?" Blackbeard asked and Edward looked to where he was pointing.

Next to a pair of silver earrings there was a folded piece of paper.

He reached it, unfolded it and read aloud what it was saying.

"Edward you are an idiot." He said before his brain had the time to register those five words.

Then: "Wait! What?"

Thatch of course didn't lose the chance to laugh at his face… again.

"And I was wondering when she would finally insult you today. Only that this time she did it on paper."

If looks could kill, Thatch would already be ten feet under the ground.

"You really believed that I was working as a part-time prostitute, didn't you?"

Eva's stern voice made both men to turn towards the open door.

There she stood with her green dress still on, but with no scarf to hide her face this time. The expression of pure anger on her face was able to scare even the bravest sailors.

Both men felt the hair on the back of their necks rise.

She took two steps forward and pointed her finger accusingly at Edward.

"You, pathetic excuse of a men, believed that I was like one of those harlots you bed everytime we reach land. You really believed it!"

"You are not? Then how you explain that?" Edward, who was the first to wake up from the shock, said and pointed at the jewelry spread on his desk. "Or the fact that we saw you to nights straight at the brothel?"

She gave him the I-am-going-to-kill-you look ten times stronger than before.

"That" she said and pointed at the jewelry with her other hand "was supposed to be the madam's payment for ordering her girls to fish information about the Templars from their clients. By the way you have no idea how many of them spend their night there. Anyway when I came the next night she told me that she was against those bastards as well as she was sympathetic to our cause and that she didn't want any payment so she gave them back to me."

Dead silence fall for many minutes inside the room only to be broken by Blackbeard.

"Well, since the whole misunderstanding is over, I think I am going to head back to my ship." he said and walked toward the exit.

"I don't think so mister." Eva said and moved her finger to his chest "Don't believe for a minute that I don't know how this whole fiasco started. I am very well aware that you were the one who put that idea into that empty head of his."

"Hey!"

"Shut up, Edward!"

For a moment Eva swore that he saw a hint of fear in the pirate captains eyes despite his impassive expression.

Blackbeard the Great afraid of a woman half his size. That was a story that worthed to be told.

She left a heavy sigh and moved her finger from his chest to the open door.

"Leave before I change my mind."

Thatch didn't lose any time and a second later he was out of the room and as far away from her wrath as possible.

"Eva" Edward said while he took a carefully two steps towards her. "You have every right to be angry. I above all should have never assumed something like that."

She looked at him and gave him a half smile.

He knew that he was forgiven.

"I know captain and I guess that I am mostly the one to blame. I should have told you of my plan from the beginning."

"Thank God." He thought, but then he remembered something else and the smile that had started to form on his lips disappeared.

He moved to his desk and took the golden necklace in his right hand.

She saw it and her smile dropped from her lips as well.

"Why did you give that away as well."

He knew that she wasn't that kind of woman that would wear something so luxurious in the open. The only exception was at her "undercover" mission, when she would become someone else: From a common courtesan to a rich countess.

But still he had noticed the way her eyes sparkled when they were giving her share from their heists. She liked the gold, the gems, why choose not to keep them?

Especially the one he had given her.

Eva tried to choose her words carefully. She knew the meaning of the necklace. As insignificant as his gesture had been back then it still made it mean something. She had never seen the captain to give a part of his share to another member of the crew. It was a symbol of acceptance and she had thrown it away like that, but she had here reasons.

"I had to make sure…" she said calmly "I had to make sure that I owed you nothing."

"Owe me? The necklace was a present not a loan."

His ignorance saddened and annoyed her.

"They've given me things before: Dresses, rings and bracelets some more valuables that the one you hold and some not."

She paused a moment, tried to collect her thoughts and most importantly to block every memory of the past.

"Every time they said that those were present as well, but then they always asked something on return and I had to give it to them. And so I did, until I had nothing left."

"I am not them."

She smiled a little when she realized that he was right.

"No, you are not."


End file.
